Romance and Adventure on the High Seas
by BatNeko
Summary: Ha! There's romance now! And you doubted me... Wind Waker retelling, Link's POV.
1. At the Outset

**Romance and Adventure on the High Seas**

_Far beneath the waves_

_A land cries out for freedom_

_One hero answers_

Chapter 1. At the Outset

I've always liked sleeping outdoors. When the weather is nice, as it so often is on Outset Island, there isn't really anything keeping you inside. So I sneak outside and stare at the stars until I fall asleep. I like to pretend I'm sailing off into that sea of stars, away from Outset.

Don't get me wrong, I _like _Outset, it's just not where I want to spend the rest of my life. It's a great place to raise kids or retire, but there's nothing to _do _here. It's not a place for a young man looking to find his niche in life.

Not that I'm a young man exactly, yet. You're considered a man when you turn twelve but, come on, we all know that a twelve-year-old is not capable of taking care of himself or anyone else.

Or at least, that's what I thought back then... But it's amazing the kinds of things even a twelve-year-old can accomplish, if he has a good enough reason.

That morning, _the _morning, I remember I was dreaming. I saw a country putting their fate in the hands of gods and heroes, and drowning. I got this feeling, like I wanted to help those people, but at the same time I wanted to smack some sense into them. You don't expect gods to save you! You get out there and save _yourself_!

It wasn't until long after I awoke that I realized my dream was surprising similar to a story my Grandma had told me once.

Actually, I had been so deep in sleep that it took me a minute to even realize where I was and what was going on. Aryll stood in front of me, smiling in that cute little way of hers. She's so much smarter than I remember being at her age. I always get the feeling she's the one taking care of me, instead of vice versa.

Then again, I do suffer from what my Grandma likes to call "common sense issues." Sometimes jumping off of high stuff seems like a _really _good idea!

"I knew you'd be here!" Aryll giggled. "This is my _favorite _spot to gaze out at the sea. When I play with the gulls, I call it Aryll's Lookout." She looked at me and smiled again. "So, do you remember what day it is today?"

I blinked groggily.

Her smile turned wry. "You're still half asleep aren't you? Did you forget?"

I blinked again.

"Big Brother, it's your birthday!"

_That _woke me up. You'd think your birthday wouldn't be that easy to forget.

"Grandma's been waiting for you to come back to the house for a while now, it's a good thing I came to find you! Go see what she wants." She shoved me toward the ladder. "Go on!"

"I'm going, I'm going," I said. "Be careful, this thing is tall!"

"Go Big Brother!"

"You're lucky I like you."

"I know," she smiled so sweetly that I couldn't help but smile back.

Grandma had been acting a little odd the past few weeks. I think the idea of me growing up disturbed her. Parents get like that.

I didn't head straight home, stopping along the way to say hi to some of our neighbors. Abe was trying to catch a couple of the wild pigs on the island as a gift for his wife, Rose, but was proving to be hopelessly inept at it. I gave him a hand, and Rose gave me some cash. I love that woman.

Shame her kids are so clingy. Especially Zill with his perpetual snot drip. Ew.

Then Sturgeon called my up to his place for a lecture. He does that sometimes. Technically, I got all my schooling from Sturgeon, but the man is so...eccentric, that I got that schooling at completely random moments and on completely random subjects.

He chose to lecture me on "manhood" that day. Not the kind you're thinking of, silly perverts, but courage and responsibility and that shit. I don't know why he thought I needed a lecture. I do my chores, I help people out, I'm generally a good kid. Generally.

When I finally made it back to the house Grandma was waiting for me, not angry at all. She _never _gets angry. Not even that time I smashed all her pots in a fit of pointless rage. No, she got disappointed in me, which is much worse.

"There you are Link," she said. "Here, try these on." She shoved a pile of green fabric into my arms, then sighed wistfully. "Time certainly flies... I can't believe you're already old enough to wear these clothes."

I stared in dismay at the outfit. Long-sleeved green shirt, darker green tunic-thing, long white pants, and a hat to match. "They look like they might be a little, uh, warm for this weather."

"Don't sound so disappointed dear one, you only have to wear them for one day. Today is a day to celebrate. It is the day that you become the same age as the young hero in all the legends." She started to get a far-off look in her eye, and I knew I was in for a speech. "Be proud, child. In the olden days, this was the day the boys were finally considered to be men. They were taught the ways of the sword to prepare them for battle with their enemies. But we don't live in such a way any longer. Our ways are the ways of peace. Nowadays, I suppose Orca is the only one on the island who still knows anything about swordplay." She gestured behind her. "Hanging the family shield on the wall as a decoration is another tradition that has been carried down from those days."

I'd never thought much about that shield. It was just something that had always been there, like Grandma. I didn't remember my parents, though sometimes I had vague pictures in my mind, and the feeling that I'd been very happy. Aryll didn't even remember that much.

I put on those silly green clothes, and was grateful to discover they were not nearly as uncomfortable as they looked. If it wasn't for the lack of anything resembling style, I wouldn't have minded wearing them all the time.

"Isn't that nice, Link?" Grandma looked me over happily. "They suit you perfectly! A perfect fit!"

She made me spin around and model for her, then adjusted my hat and nudged me toward the door.

"Well, tonight I'm going to invite the whole town over for your birthday party, so I'd better start getting ready. Your grandma is going to make your favorite soup for you tonight. I just know you're looking forward to it. Now go get your sister."

Reluctant as I was to be seen in that outfit, I obeyed. Aryll was where I'd left her, up in her Lookout.

"Ah! 'Hoy, Big Brother!" she greeted me when she saw me. "Did Grandma make that outfit for you?"

I nodded miserably.

"But, wow you look like you'd be way too hot in these clothes."

"They're not so bad," I shrugged.

"I guess they're pretty neat," she conceded. "So, anyway, Link...can you close your eyes and hold your hands?"

I frowned suspiciously. If you have siblings, you know why. Sometimes it's just a bad idea to trust them, especially when they want you to.

"Just for a second?" Aryll pleaded. "I"m going to give you my most treasured belonging... But just for one day..."

I gave up and held out my hands, and felt something placed in them.

"Happy birthday!" Aryll exclaimed.

I opened my eyes. "Your telescope! Aryll!"

"So, well? Do you like it? I'm letting you borrow this just because you're my big brother. Aren't you lucky?"

"Thank you Aryll," I smiled at her. "I know how much this means to you." It was her prized possession. I suspected, rather strongly, that Aryll wanted off Outset as much as I did. After all, her most treasured belonging was device that was used to look at things a long way off.

"Ooh, why don't you try it out! Right now? Try looking at our house from here."

I did, and Aryll showed me how to zoom in and out. I looked around a bit, and spotted Quill, the Rito postman, at the mailbox. Suddenly he glanced up, then started flapping his wings frantically and freaking out.

"The postman looks kinda of weird, doesn't he?" Aryll said from near my shoulder. Then she screamed, nearly blowing my eardrums out. "Link! The sky! Look up in the sky!"

I whirled around and looked up, telescope still to my eye, and nearly screamed as well when I saw an absolutely _enormous _bird flying toward the island. For a moment I couldn't grasp what I was seeing, then I zoomed in and gasped. The bird was carrying a girl in its beak!

I heard cannon shots from below and looked down. There was a ship, a large one, clearly pirates, firing at the bird. They scored a hit and, much to my dismay, the bird dropped the girl directly into the Forest of Fairies, on top of the cliffs.

"Link, this is so terrible!" Aryll exclaimed. "That girl fell in the forest! She needs help!"

I nodded sharply and started for the ladder.

"Wait Link! I didn't mean you! It's too dangerous without something to protect yourself with!"

"Then I'll just have to get something to protect myself with," I said. I slid down the ladder and headed for Orca's house.

He was exercising, hitting the wall or something, but turned when I came in. "Oh! What is the matter, Link? You have an urgent look about you... Has something happened?"

I bit my lip. I couldn't say, "A pirate girl just got dropped in the forest by a huge bird." It sounded ridiculous when I thought about it.

"Whatever it is, from the look on your face I suspect that it is no laughing matter... What say you, Link? Ah. Have you come for some serious instruction in the way of the sword?"

"Yes sir," I said. It would probably be a good idea to get some training before rushing off to save the day anyway.

"Very good!"

He took a sword off the wall, weighed it in his hands, then handed it to me. He took a large spear for himself. We bowed to each other.

"Link, your first lesson shall be the horizontal slice! Face me and swing. Do not fear for my safety... I am ready for you."

I tried and Orca blocked me easily.

"Good! Keep coming at me!"

We practiced for what felt like hours, but couldn't have been more than twenty minutes. I learned the vertical slice, the thrust, the spin attack, the parry attack, and the jump attack. Orca seemed genuinely impressed by my skills. He didn't know that I'd been watching him and playing swordsman with sticks since I was tiny.

"That was a fine display!" he said. "And yet... I sense a certain anxiousness in the sword you hold...an eagerness that goes far beyond the mere desire to be wielded on the fields of battle..."

I looked at the sword curiously.

"I do not know what has happened," Orca continued. "But I have faith in you. Somehow, I doubt you will misuse that sword... You may have it, Link. I give it freely. Take the blade with you."

"Thank you master," I said, not knowing what else to say.

"Since the olden days, this sword has been used to fend off evil... Its blade is infused with the desire to become strong and righteous. Be strong, Link."

We bowed again, then I turned and ran outside.

The path up to the forest was blocked by a patch of small trees and brush, allowed to grow freely more to keep people off the path than because no one wanted to bother to chop it all down. There were monsters in the forest, lots of them, but they stuck to their part of the island and we stuck to ours. Maybe it was strange that there was any part of such a small island that was off-limits, but that was the way it had always been.

There were miniblins on the path, those annoying imp-like creatures that I called "nak naks" in my head, after the sound they made. I was still new at the whole sword thing, but they weren't much trouble. Most of them ran away after I took out the first one, and the others dropped off once I got to the top of the path.

The rope bridge that led across the gap between the two parts of the island was damaged, and had been for some time, but I leapt across the gap with no problem. There were advantages to being young and sprightly.

I entered the forest with no small amount of trepidation. Like I said, I was new at this. But the creatures I came across were mostly just creatures, relatively weak. Until I ran into the bokoblin.

Bokoblins and their larger cousins, moblins, have always bothered me a bit. They're just monsters, or so I've been told, but they wear clothing and use weapons. They seem almost, almost, like people.

But they're still monsters, and this one was likely to hurt that pirate girl. It was armed only with a stick, and wasn't expecting me, so I had the upper hand. After only a few strikes it screamed and fell back, exploding into smoke.

That, I suppose, is what marks bokoblins as monsters. Like all the others, they turn into smoke when they die. When a person dies they just...die.

I'd only ever seen one dead person. Sturgeon's wife, who had passed away several years ago. I couldn't even remember her name, now, but I remembered how still she was as they lay her out in her funeral barge. It was creepier than it was sad, though it made me ashamed now to admit that.

I could see something bright in the trees farther in and I headed for it, having no other landmark. When I was close enough to see that it was, in fact, a person, two enormous moblins dropped out of the sky and grunted threateningly at me.

Perfect.

Moblins are huge. I mean _really _huge. Sure, that kidnapper bird may have dwarfed them, but not much else does.

It was very tempting to just close my eyes and trust to luck, but that would have gotten me killed. I was not willing to die for a pirate I had never met, not even a _girl _I had never met.

I had to take the moblins one at a time, lucky for me they're dumb as bricks. As soon as I knocked the weapon out of one of their hands it would turn around, often exposing its back to me, to retrieve it. It was a matter of moments, once I got the hang of it, to finish them both off.

It was a little disturbing how quickly I got the hang of it.

I ran toward the tree the girl was hanging in. She would probably never know how lucky she was to have been snagged by that branch. If the fall hadn't killed her, the monsters would have.

But as I ran I saw the branch start to bend, then snap, and the girl fell the rest of the way to the ground.

Somehow, this brought her to her senses. She groaned and pushed herself up, looking at me groggily.

This was the first time I'd seen her clearly, and I have to admit, I was slightly stunned. I thought pirates were diseased scumbags, rats, scourge of the seas, but this girl looked as normal as anyone else I knew. Not only that, but there was a part of my brain, a part that was becoming more and more insistent as I got older, that told me this girl was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and ever would see.

She was tanned from a life outdoors, and her honey-blonde hair was pulled back from her face, revealing wide blue eyes and a high clear forehead. Those eyes surveyed me, still half-stunned, and her soft lips parted and she said, "Wow. What's with that get-up?"

I could almost _feel _the blow to my self-esteem.

"Well, whatever." The girl shook her head and climbed to her feet. "So, where am I?" From her tone it was clear she was used to people listening to her, but I wasn't used to listening to people. Either way, she didn't even give me time to answer. "Oh, that's right! That giant bird came and..."

"Miss! Miss Tetra!"

The girl and I turned toward the new voice and I saw a pirate, a large man in a bandanna, come rushing toward us.

"Oh! Oh, thank... Thank goodness! You're safe!" the man panted when he got up to us. I was surprised by his concern, I didn't think pirates cared that much about each other. "When I saw you get dropped on this summit, I thought for sure you'd..." He trailed off, and I understood why. This girl, Tetra, didn't seem like the kind of person who would like others to know she was mortal.

"Summit?" she said. "So that bird dropped me off on the top of a mountain? Well, wasn't that nice of it!"

The pirate and I blinked at her. Apparently even _he _wasn't expecting that reaction.

"Well, don't just stand there!" Tetra ordered him. "Let's go! Time to repay our debt to that bird in full!"

"But Miss," the pirate glanced at me. "What about this boy?"

"Don't worry about him."

"Hey!"

"Come on!" she said, ignoring me. She and the pirate took off toward the exit and I followed, curious.

I emerged, blinking against the bright sunlight after the gloom of the forest, to hear Aryll's voice. "'Hoy! Big Brother!"

My eyes cleared and I saw that she was standing on the far side of the bridge, waving. I smiled and waved back. Aryll started across the bridge toward me...

And then that giant bird swooped down out of the sky and snatched my sister up.

"Brother!" Aryll screamed.

"Aryll!" I cried. I rushed forward, not thinking, just trying to get to her before it was too late. I forgot to take into account the terrain, and the fact that it stopped abruptly only a few feet from where I'd started.

My feet churned on empty air, but my eyes were fixed on Aryll. That is, until my arm was almost wrenched from its socket by my own weight.

"Uhnn! Stupid kid!" I looked up and saw Tetra holding on tight to my arm. There was genuine pain in her eyes.

"Get ahold of yourself!" she ordered. "She's gone! There's nothing you can do..."

I looked after the bird, quickly disappearing into the distance.

"Screw that," I said. "I'm getting my sister back."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Notes from the Author

I meant to post this just after midnight last night, but I was tired and distracted by noisy neighbors and it completely slipped my mind. So here it is! My new story! Yay!

I dipped rather heavily into a script for the game I downloaded off the internet for dialogue. I'll stop doing that eventuaally, probably, but it's just so _useful_, and makes it seem that much more real.

I hope you all like it. I sure do.


	2. Oh Captain, My Captain

Chapter 2. Oh Captain, My Captain

"What?" Tetra exclaimed. "You want to come with us on our ship?"

"That's what I said," I nodded firmly. We were back on the beach and Tetra had finally gotten free of her worried crew long enough to listen to me. "You guys are going after that bird, and I want to come with."

"Do you understand what you're asking?" she said. "We're pirates! You know..._pirates! _The terror of the seas!"

I just looked at her. She was my age, and, unless I was very much mistaken, a couple members her crew were gay. Not that terrifying.

"What do we get out of bringing some helpless little kid along with us?" Tetra demanded. "I'll tell what we get, a _headache_!"

I kept on looking. She was _not _going to beat me down.

She wilted slightly under my gaze. "I know how you must feel, with your sister having been kidnapped and all..." she said, averting her eyes. "But that doesn't really have anything to do with us, does it?"

"And how do you figure that?" a voice said.

We turned and saw Quill, the Rito mailman, frowning at Tetra.

"Quill!" I exclaimed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there!" Gonzo, the pirate from the forest, said. "Just who are you? Where do you get off butting in on someone else's conversation?"

"Please," Quill said. He didn't roll his eyes, but his tone made it clear he wanted to. "All I mean to say is that if you big, bad pirates hadn't come to this quiet little island," his frown turned to a glare, "that poor girl wouldn't have been snatched by that bird."

Tetra bristled. "And just what do you mean by that?"

"Just be quiet for a moment, and I'll tell you!" Quill snapped. "Now, as my work entails delivering letters, I spend much of my time traveling amongst the many different islands. As a result, I hear many things..." He looked at the pirates. "Haven't any of you heard word that young girls have been getting kidnapped lately from all regions of the Great Sea?"

The pirates were silent.

"No matter. Whether you've heard it or not, that seems to be the case. Young girls with long ears like yours have been getting kidnapped never to be seen again. And unless my eyes fail me, that young girl who was just kidnapped from this island also has long ears, does she not? Much like _you _do, Miss Fearsome Pirate."

Miss Fearsome Pirate looked away.

"My point is that the bird mistook that poor girl for you, and that's why it grabbed her."

Tetra said nothing. What could she say?

"And correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was young Link here who saved you from the monsters in the forest, wasn't it?"

For the first time, Tetra looked surprised. She turned to me. "Is this true?"

But before I could answer, Quill went on. "Oh! And while I'm at it I may as well tell you that the bird that kidnapped both you and Link's sister has made its foul nest to the north, on the heights of the Forsaken Fortress."

"The Forsaken Fortress?" Tetra exclaimed, surprised again. "Isn't that the place where..." She trailed off.

"So, what are you going to do?" Quill asked. "Under the circumstances, I don't think it would be unreasonable for you to give Link a little help, now, would it?"

Tetra folded her arms and _hmph_ed. "I don't need you to tell me that," she said. "Even if I were to consider it..." Despite her words it was clear Quill was getting to her. "Lately, I've heard nothing but evil rumors about this Forsaken Fortress." She turned to me. "You can't possibly mean to go there with nothing but that cheap little sword! That's not brave! It's stupid!"

"Hey!" I looked down at my sword. "It's not cheap!"

She ignored me. "I mean, come on! Even a simple little island like this has to have something you could use as a shield. You know, something to protect yourself with. Anything?"

I frowned thoughtfully. "Well...maybe..."

"Tell you what," she said. "If you come back with something like that, we'll let you stow away on our ship."

"Okay," I said, and started to turn.

"Oh, and one more thing," she stopped me. "Once we leave, you won't be coming back here for a while, so you'd better go say goodbye to your family while you have the chance. I don't want you getting all weepy-eyed and homesick on me!"

I decided not to dignify that with a response, I couldn't think of a good one anyway, and headed home.

Grandma was not going to be happy with me.

The old family shield was hanging on the wall upstairs in our home, or at least it was supposed to be. But when I got up there the wall was bare.

Confused, I went back downstairs to find Grandma and ask her where it was.

She was waiting for me. She had the shield in her arms and was looking at it sadly. "Link... Is this what you're looking for?"

For a moment I was afraid. Grandma didn't want me to leave, I knew that. I'd always known that. But if she didn't give me that shield Miss Fearsome Pirate wouldn't take me on her ship, and if she didn't take me on her ship Aryll would be trapped in that place that even pirates feared... I couldn't let that happen.

But Grandma looked up at me and smiled. "Take it with you," she said.

"Thank you Grandma." I took it from her gratefully.

"I guess it is true," Grandma sighed. "Aryll really has been kidnapped... Hasn't she?"

I nodded. I didn't want to say it out loud.

"What kind of monster would take such a sweet, young child?" Grandma asked, choking.

I didn't know what to say, and I'm not good at comforting crying people. But I adjusted the straps of the shield to fit my arm and tried to look heroic. "I'm going to get her back, Grandma. I promise."

Grandma smiled and patted my shoulder. "May the winds of fortune blow with you."

"Good bye Grandma."

"I love you Link."

"I love you too."

She hugged me, and then I left.

They say you can't go home again, and I'd never understood it until that moment. I didn't know how things had changed so fast, but they had. I would never truly be able to go home again.

Dammit.

Tetra looked dubiously at my shield. "Wow, decrepit," she said. "Are you sure you can still use that thing? Are you going to get splinters and cry?"

I glared at her. "_No_."

"Well, whatever. If you're ready, then let's go! Are you ready?"

"I'm ready," I said.

"Then get on board, blondie."

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow.

She stared me directly in the eyes. "You heard me. I'm your captain now, kid. Are you talking back to me?"

"Yeah, I am," I replied.

We stared each other down for a moment, and then, to my surprise, Tetra smiled. "You're all right, Link was it?"

"Uh, yeah."

"I'm Tetra. You're probably going to die you know."

"Everyone does," I said as aloofly as I could.

Tetra laughed. "That's cute, you think you're tough. I think I'm gonna hand you over to Niko. Let's go."

Some more of my illusions about pirates were broken when I got on the ship. For one thing, it was scrupulously clean. I wondered if that was because of Tetra, or the gay members of her crew.

As soon as everyone was on board Tetra started barking orders. The pirates all hopped to it, obeying her without a word. She didn't say anything to me though, so I wandered to the bow of the ship and looked down at the beach.

All my neighbors had gathered to see me off.

"Good luck, Link!"

"Good luck finding Aryll!"

"Take care of yourself!"

Slowly at first, then more frantically, I waved back at them.

"Ugh... How much longer is this going to go on, do you think?"

I turned and glared at Tetra.

"Do you have an estimate? Are you sure you shouldn't just quit right now?"

"I'm sure, okay?"

"Seriously, think about it." She actually sounded serious. "I can tell you're just going to get more sentimental from here on out. There's still time, you know... Are you sure we shouldn't just turn around and take you back to your island?"

"I'm _sure_," I said firmly. "I'm going with you and I'm saving my sister."

"Fine. But don't blame me if you die." She turned away and went back to shouting orders.

I stared after Outset until it was nothing but a splotch on the horizon, then went to go ask my captain what to do.

"Go find Niko down below," Tetra told me, waving a hand at me as though to brush me aside. "I told him he could have you."

"'Have' me?" I repeated.

"As his underling. The guy's a beaver, but you're just a kid, so I figure he outranks you a _little_."

"Great," I muttered. I wasn't sure what she meant by "beaver," but it couldn't be good.

I headed below deck. What else could I do? I knew about sailing of course, what with living on an island and all, but Tetra's pirates worked together like a well-oiled machine. It would be better if I just got out of the way.

It was even cleaner down below than it was on deck. The only sign of any dirt was where the torches had smoke-stained the walls, and even that appeared scrubbed. A pirate I hadn't met before was standing near a doorway across from another set of stairs.

"What's in there?" I asked, peering around him. It looked like a bedroom.

The pirate narrowed his eyes at me and moved in front of the doorway a bit more. "This is Miss Tetra's personal cabin. Why?"

"Sheesh. Just curious." I looked up at him. Seemed nice enough. "Speaking of curiosity...why do you big tough pirates listen to a kid like Tetra? She looks _my age_. Younger maybe."

"Well, Miss Tetra may look young," the pirate admitted, "but she's actually thirty."

I felt my mouth drop open and my eyes open wider than I thought was physically possible. No way, _no way _that girl could be thirty years old. She acted like a spoiled little child, not a mature woman. It _couldn't _be. It just...couldn't be...

Luckily for my sanity, the pirate burst out laughing. "Oh man! You should see the look on your face! I'm kidding, I'm just kidding, take a breath."

I realized that I had not, in fact, been breathing, and did so.

"You're right," the pirate said, grinning. "Miss Tetra is about your age. But she's been our captain ever since our last miss, her mother, died. She has more than proven herself to be fully capable of leading us, on more than one occasion. You probably shouldn't tell anyone I said this, but..." he grinned a bit broader, "Miss Tetra is probably smarter than half of the crew, all of whom are at least twice her age."

I grinned back. "Is she smarter than you?"

The pirate shrugged modestly. "I'm smart enough to tell when others are dumb, and I _did _trick _you_."

"That didn't count," I frowned. "I've only known Tetra for like ten minutes. It could have been true for all I know."

The pirate laughed. "Sure kid, whatever."

"The name's Link."

"Sure Link, whatever."

I headed down the other flight of stairs, muttering under my breath. These were the first strangers I'd met in years, and so far I was not getting the greatest impression of the outside world.

There was a large empty room at the bottom of the stairs, probably used for cargo normally. There was a large platform at the near end of the room, and a smaller one at the far end, and between the two was a lowered space with what looked like wooden flats laying on the floor. Standing near the doorway, looking decidedly smug, was a pirate I had seen on the beach. He was short, shorter than me even, with a massive overbite. At least now I knew what Tetra had meant by "beaver."

Niko acted surprised to see me. "Oh! Well now! Ahoy there, swabbie! As of today..." he cleared his throat. "I am your superior...Niko!"

I didn't say anything. It was very tempting to ask if I was supposed to be impressed, but I wanted to avoid trouble. Besides, if what Tetra had said was ay indication, Niko here was the very bottom rung on the pirate ladder. He probably needed this.

"Now, I promise I'll go easy on you so you do as I say, okay?"

"Ooookay..."

"Right!" He clapped his hands together eagerly. "Now, first off, you have to take the test all new pirates have to take. It's a bit of a doozy, so get ready! You watch everything I'm about to show you real careful-like so you can cram it into your no-doubt mushy swabbiebrain!"

I blinked. "Huh?"

"Just pay attention." Niko walked past me to a switch on the floor. "First off, you gotta press this switch. This is the only easy part. Just walk up to it and step on. Presto! Switch pressed!" He hopped on it, and the wooden flats rose up from the floor.

"Now, check it out!" he began.

"Hey, cool!" I exclaimed, ignoring him. "What kind of mechanism is that?" I bent over to peer under the platforms.

"Pay attention swabbie!" Niko ordered. "You're going to have to jump to the platforms. Watch." He took a running jump to the closest platform and landed with a grunt. It seemed to take far more effort than it should have.

"Okay, so I was able to jump on the first one myself" Niko said. "But the next one is too far, right? That's when you gotta do _this!_" He made another running jump, this time grabbing onto one of the ropes hanging from the ceiling and swinging to the next platform with a wild yell. Once again, way too much effort.

"So, you think you get how to do it? You have to swing from platform to platform and try to get to the entrance of that room over there!" He pointed at the door at the far end of the room. "Here's the problem though, swabbie! The platforms only stay raised for a little while, so if you don't get there by the time they drop you have to start over! It will probably take you at least one year before you're good enough to make it all the way here. One rough year. One tough year, full of bumps and bruises. Of course, if you manage to do it faster, I'll reward you! Now, give it a try! This ought to be good for a chuckle or two!"

I looked at him for a moment. Yup. Bottom of the ladder.

I waited for the platforms to drop down automatically before trying the test. It didn't seem that hard really, but it wouldn't hurt to give myself as much time as possible.

I was right. It wasn't hard. I actually took some time and lined up my jumps for the first couple, but then I realized all I had to do was eyeball it and try to keep from falling when I landed. I made it to the other side of the room in about five minutes. Tops.

"_What_? You did it already?"

"Yuh-huh."

Niko gulped and tried to reclaim wha ever dignity he'd thought he had. "I... I... I'm proud to have you as... As my... As my... underling!"

"Of course you are. Now, I believe you mentioned something about a reward?"

"Oh...yeah..." Niko muttered something to himself, sounded like something about getting busted, then he turned back to me and said, "All right, swabbie! I'll tell you what! You can have the treasure in that chest over there! It's your reward from the great and generous Niko! Hurry and take it before someone comes!"

I bit my lip to keep from laughing, then went into the room and flipped open the chest. Inside was a bag, a pretty nice one. Unfortunately it was purple, and designed to look like a monster face. I wouldn't have picked it out for myself, but hey, it was free.

"Hey! Link!" Tetra's voice echoed down the stairs. "We're at the Forsaken Fortress! Get up here!"

I scampered up the stairs, not caring how I looked. I was vaguely surprised when I got up ther to see that the sky was dark, but it made sense. So much had happened since morning, it felt more like years than hours. And yet, I was startled by the time the pirate ship had made. One of the pirates had said the Forbidden Fortress was all the way on the other side of the Great Sea from Outset.

Tetra was nowhere in sight on deck. I looked around futilely until I heard her voice from above me.

"Hey! Link! Up here!" I looked up and saw her peering down at me from the crow's nest.

I scaled the ladder as quickly as I could without falling off. Tetra frowned at me as I clambered over the top.

"What were you doing with Niko?" she asked. "You weren't play some stupi game for treasure were you?"

I tried to look innocent.

"Were you?"

"_No_," I said. Technically, a bag wasn't treasure, right?

Tetra shook her head. "Well, whatever. There's something you need to see." She gestured me over next to her and pointed into the darkness. "That's the cursed isle known as the Forsaken Fortress."

I stared. It looked like it had once been no more than a pile of rocks, but a fortress, huge and dark and forbidding, had been built on it. Now it jutted into the sky, like a monstrous claw tearing at the stars. There were remains of ships floating in the water beneath it, like the corpses of its enemies. Searchlights swept the building at strategic points, and as I watched one it fell on a small window, around which a dozen seagulls flocked.

Seagulls...

"There are all kinds of crazy rumors about this place," Tetra said, staring at it with an odd frown on her face. "All I know for sure is that it used to be a hideout for a no-good group of pirates we used to compete with. But they were just small time. Now the place looks like it's pretty dangerous."

She leaned forward and her frown turned thoughtful. "Ah!" she exclaimed suddenly, her face brightening. "I knew it! Look over there, by that window!" She pointed at the window I had noticed before. "Have you ever seen so many seagulls flock like that before?"

"Yes," I said truthfully. "They do it all the time for Aryll. I don't know why, but gulls have always liked her."

Tetra nodded, smiling triumphantly. "I'll bet you anything that's where they've got your sister locked up." She scanned the Fortress once more and frowned again. "It looks like the place is under really tight guard... Ergh!" She tugged at her hair in frustration. "This won't work! We'd be spotted before we got anywhere near landing there..." she folded her arms and sunk into thought. "Hmm... What do we do now?"

I watched her as she stood there, wrapped in plans. It was still hard to believe a girl like this could command a ship full of supposed cutthroats and bandits, but she certainly did dedicate herself to a project once she'd started it. Maybe, just maybe, she'd come up with a good plan after all.

Then, out of nowhere, she turned to me, smiled, and winked.

That wink froze the very marrow in my bones.

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Notes from the Author

Still using the game script. Added stuff though. I know, I know, but it'll get better Ipromise. And have I mentioned that I adore Tetra? I do.

Next chapter might take a while. Dungeons are hard. Fingers crossed, y'all!


	3. Forbidding

Chapter 3. Forbidding

It took me a few minutes to realize just what the hell was going on. I had been manhandled by half a dozen large men and forced bodily into a...contraption. I didn't know what the contraption was, until it was too late.

Then I started struggling like mad.

"Look, just relax," Tetra said. She was clearly trying to sound reassuring, but she was smiling like a shark and doing more harm than good. "If you really want to get into a dangerous place like the Fortress this is the only way to do it. Trust me, we do this all the time."

"To yourselves or to your enemies?" I demanded.

"Don't _worry _about it! It'll be a piece of cake!"

"Iwant a last request!" I shouted, still not reassured.

"Is everyone ready?" Tetra called. There was a chorus of "aye"s. She turned back to me. "Never you fear, kid. We're pros. We're going to launch you good."

I was very tempted to respond with an obscenity, but considering my life quite literally depended on these people I bit my tongue.

"Three!"

I struggled even harder.

"Two!"

I resigned myself to my fate.

"One!"

I gritted my teeth and shut my eyes.

The catapult snapped and I was flung into the air.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

I'd fallen off of stuff before. Often, it was intentional. But being thrown like ball was quite a new experience, and not one I enjoyed. The wall of the Forsaken Fortress rushed up to meet me, and despite my best efforts I struck it, hard, face-first.

For a moment all I saw were brightly colored lights flashing in front of my eyes, and could feel nothing but the horrible sickening pain that seemed to be coming from every part of my body at once. Then there was even _more _pain as I hit the water with a sharp smack.

Luckily the frigid cold of the water brought me to my senses in time to push myself to the surface and gasp for breath. I swam to the closest bit of solid matter I could see and pulled myself onto the floor, groaning.

My head was throbbing, my ribs ached and my kneecaps felt lucky to be intact. I manage to push myself into a sitting position and check for blood, but my skin seemed whole. That was one good thing at least.

But my sword was gone. It had probably fallen when I hit the wall. I started muttering curses to myself, when suddenly something buzzed my rear end and I heard a voice say, "Your sword landed all the way up there? Damn, I'm sorry. My aim must have been off a little bit."

Thoroughly freaked out I reached into my back pocket and pulled something out. A green stone, glowing slightly, tied with a leather thong. As I stared at it, the voice spoke again and the stone vibrated from it.

"Heh heh, the look on your face! Priceless!" I recognized the voice now. Tetra.

"What the hell?" I asked.

"Heh heh," she chuckled again. "I slipped this into your pocket just before we fired you over there. It's no ordinary stone either."

"I noticed."

"Good, so you're smarter than you look. I can see what you're doing through the stone, and obviously you can hear me through it. I'll be able ot keep tabs on you and try to make sure you don't kill yourself. I need this back once you've saved your sister though, so don't go losing it, understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I slipped the stone around my neck and tucked it into my shirt. Better than keeping it in my back pocket anyway. "So where did you say my sword was?"

"Close to where they're keeping your sister. Think you can find the way?"

"You said it yourself, I'm smarter than I look." I scanned the Fortress. I couldn't see much from where I was, but I got a vague idea of my surroundings and headed up the nearby staircase.

I was still in a lot of pain, but at least the stinging from hitting the water had faded. I was going to ache for days, there was no doubt about that, but I didn't have time to nurse my hurts now. Once I got Aryll and got home I could take a few days off to heal. Not before then.

In order to get up to where my sword and Aryll were, I needed to get inside. Unfortunately the only door I could see was across a wide empty stretch, continually swept by searchlights. I could probably sneak around the edges, but there was still a good chance I'd get spotted.

"Link," Tetra's voice came from the stone. "Good news. There don't seem to be any people on the island."

"Then who's running those searchlights?"

"Looks like bokoblins."

"Goodie."

"You'll probably want to take out the searchlights before doing anything else. I'm pretty familiar with monsters, and they tend to be narrow minded. If you get caught in the searchlight you're done for. No searchlights, no problem."

"Makes sense," I admitted. "But I've got to get inside first."

"Hmm. Any boxes around?"

I looked. "No. Couple of barrels though."

"Good enough. Hide yourself in one and try not to move when the light touches you."

"You're kidding, right? No way they'd fall for that."

"Trust me, kid. They're just monsters. They're _dumb_."

"You'd better be right..." I said nervously.

"I am."

I found a barrel with nice wide slats and hefted it over my head. I could still see, but, if Tetra was right, no one could see me.

I started waddling along the edge of the platform. Every time I saw the light pass close I stopped moving and let the barrel drop. Slowly but surely I made my way to the door, and when I finally got there, after what seemed like hours, I chucked the barrel into the water and yanked open one of the giant doors before anyone could react.

Tetra kept quiet as I made my way through the fortress, for which I was grateful. There were times when I had to sneak along, much closer to the moblins than I wanted to be, and one sound could have meant the end. The only time she spoke was when I got close to the first searchlight, and that was a good thing since I was lost.

The searchlight was manned by a bokoblin, who sprang from his post when he saw me. I remembered too late that I didn't have my sword, but there were a couple of sticks nearby and I grabbed one and wailed on the bokoblin with it.

It snapped in two after only a fet hits, but it did it over the bokoblin's head, killing the thing. The searchlight automatically shut down, and I moved on.

The Fortress was set up in a circular shape, with a ring of connected rooms around a mostly empty space in the center. Once I figured this out I was able to find the other searchlights easily enough, and every time I went outside I made sure to look for the seagulls and orient myself.

There was more sneaking, more fighting, a little trouble with a moblin statue that shot lasers, but nothing I couldn't outrun. I was starting to realize just how late it was, which was probably not good for Aryll. Not to mention the fact that I was getting worn out. Which was also probably not good for Aryll.

Once the searchlights were taken out I had more freedom of movement, and got as close to the place where my sword had landed as possible. Luckily it was right in front of the door where Aryll was being kept. Probably where Tetra had _meant _to launch me.

There wasn't a walkway across to the area in front of the door, it looked like it might have broken off, but there was a small ledge along the wall. I eyed the drop for a moment, then took a breath and pressed myself flat against the stones of the Fortress.

Inch by inch, step by step, breath by breath, I made my way across. Aryll. Aryll was waiting.

Finally I made it to the floor, having successfully avoided looking down as I crossed the ledge. There was a bokoblin guarding the door, but I ignored it and ran straight for my sword.

I heard the bokoblin make a startled noise and moved forward, so I snatched up the sword, keeping a tight grip, and braced for battle. It had a sword too, _and _a shield, but it was no smarter than its fellows. I finished it off as quick as I could and went straight through the door.

The room was huge, with a ceiling that stretched up farther than I cared to look. At the far side of the room was a cage holding three girls. I only got a glimpse of the other two, a blonde with a lot of jewelry and a brunette in a tattered dress, because Aryll was standing by the window.

"Aryll!" I exclaimed happily.

She ran to the bars closest to me. "Big brother!"

I started across the room toward her, with a vague idea of hacking at the lock with my sword, when suddenly Tetra's voice shouted from under my shirt.

"Link! Look out! That giant bird is-"

The rest of her sentence was drowned out by a loud raptor scream from above. I looked up, and discovered two things. 1, that the ceiling was not high, it was non-existent; and 2, that bird was even bigger than I'd thought.

I choked on a scream and tried to run, but something snagged the back of my tunic and lifted me off my feet. I felt myself rise in the air with a jerking movement, and could see the giant bird's feet beneath me so I knew I was in its beak.

Aryll was screaming, I was too stunned to scream, but as she shrunk away beneath me I did the only thing I could. I started struggling and cursing and trying to break free.

The bird carried me out of the room entirely, and when I saw the sharp stones and crashing waves beneath me I wisely decided to stop trying to fall.

What happened next happened fast. The bird brought me over to a small room at the top of a tower, where a man stood on a balcony. He was large, both tall and heavy, dressed in black robes of an unusual style. I caught a glimpse of bright red hair and beard, olive skin, and a hooked nose, before the man jerked his head and the bird copied the motion. Tossing me into the air.

It took awhile to realize I was being hurled through space once again. Once I figured it out I gave up on my honor and screamed out loud. I was going to die anyway. If I landed on something solid I would be killed for sure, and if I landed in the water I would probably be knocked out and drown.

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see the stars flying past anymore.

Then I hit, water, and my world filled with pain and cold as I sank into blackness.

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Notes From the Author

I'm sorry to make you wait so long for something so short, but my brother had finals and my new classes are hard. Next chapter will be longer (though I can't promise quicker).

I _love_ Tetra.


	4. The King of Red Lions

Chapter 4. The King of Red Lions

Light, and a deep voice. "Link."

Pain. Oh man, _pain_. My whole body felt like one giant bruise. The darkness tried to wash over me again, and I welcomed it.

"Link," the voice said again. "Wake up Link."

I groaned and blinked open my eyes. The sun was high in the sky above me, with not a cloud in sight. I was lying in a small boat with a intricately carved head of some kind on the bow. The boat was in a small cavern, or at least there was rock above and around the water it sat in,

"Well, have you come to your senses yet?" the voice said. "You are surprisingly dull-witted." The carved head turned and looked at me.

_The carved head turned and looked at me!_

I yelped and scrambled backwards, feeling the boat tip dangerously beneath me.

"Did I startle you?" the boat asked. He, for the voice was definately male, sounded amused. "I suppose that is only natural. As wide as the world is, I am the only boat upon it who can speak the words of men."

"Well that's a relief," I said before I could stop myself.

"I am the _King of the Red Lions_," the boat said, still sounding amused. "Do not fear... I am not your enemy."

"I figure you wouldn't have saved me if you were." I looked around. No one else was in sight. "You _are _the one who saved me, aren't you?"

"Yes," the boat said. "Link, I have been watching you since you went to the Forsaken Fortress to rescue your sister. I understand how your desire to protect your sister could give you the courage to fearlessly stand up to anything..."

I felt sort of proud at that.

"But such a bold attempt was foolhardy!"

I gulped. He sounded angry now. The expression on the boat's face didn't change, but his voice was expressive enough that I had no trouble interpreting his mood. He was angry because I had made him worry. This guy, this _boat_, barely even knew me and he had been worried about me. I must have been being _really _stupid.

"I suppose you saw him," the boat said when I didn't reply. The anger had faded from his voice now and he just sounded...sad. "The shadow that commands that monstrous bird. His name is...Ganon."

My eyes widened.

"He who obtained the power of the gods, attempted to cover the land in darkness and was ultimately sealed away by the very power he hoped to command. He is the very same Ganon. The emperor of the dark realm the ancient legends speak of."

"But...those stories aren't real...are they?"

"They are," the boat said solemnly. "They are very real."

I stared at him, and he continued.

"I do not know why the seal of the gods has failed, but now that Ganon has returned, the world is once again being threatened by his evil magic. Tell me, Link... Do you still wish to save your sister from him?"

I nodded. "Of course!"

"And will you do anything to save her?"

I nodded again. "_Yes_."

"I see." He was silent for a moment. "In that case, I shall guide you as we go forward. Advising you on what you should do, and where you must go. Ganon cannot be defeated by human hands, let alone by what little strength you possess. The key to defeating Ganon is locked away in a great power that you could wield after much toil and hardship. Do you understand?"

And, much to my surprise, I did. That man, he had commanded that bird like it was nothing, and he apparently was in charge of all those monsters as well. And if he was really Ganon from the stories... I _had _to save Aryll. I _had _to. No matter _what_.

"In that case, we depart!" he exclaimed. "To the Great Sea!"

We didn't move.

The boat coughed embarrassedly. "Ah, but I am getting ahead of myself. This is actually a bit embarrassing for me to admit, but..." He coughed again. "Although I am a boat that possesses the power of speech...I possess no sail. And a boat with no sail can sail no seas."

"What about, like, rowing?"

"Do you really want to _row _across the entire Great Sea?"

"Uh, no. Good point."

"I have brought you far to the east of the dark gaze of the Forsaken Fortress. On this island is a town of merchants who deal with a wide variety of goods. If you search hard enough, surely you can find one who will sell you a sail. I am sorry to ask this of you, but without a sail, I will be useless to you."

"I can do that," I said. "I've got some cash."

"Feel free to explore and stock up on whatever you think you may need. We may be gone for some time."

"It's going to take that long?" I asked, dismayed.

"Well, with a sail perhaps it will less difficult to get around, but we will still need to travel to many places."

I sighed. "Okay."

I climbed out of the boat and splashed to shore. The boat watched me as I did. It was a bit unnerving. Was a talking boat an inanimate object?

"Remember, there is no time to play," the boat said. "Come back immediately as soon as your errands are done."

"_Okay_," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I saw that."

The boat didn't sound angry, so I grinned at him before I rounded the corner of the cave-thing.

There was a grassy slope and a patch of flowers, plus a couple of small girls and wandering pigs. Above the slope I could see a wall, and buildings, and hear the sounds of people and commerce. There was a small building at the top, looked like a shop of some kind, as well as a lone tree and a low pointless wall.

It seemed like a nice place.

I headed up the slope and toward the archway that led into the town proper. There was another couple of tall trees just before it, and beneath them was an old man, dressed in shabby clothing. As soon as he saw me he came running towards me with this desperate look on his face. I was afraid he was a beggar, and since I didn't know if I had any money to spare I was reluctant to talk to him.

But when he got to me, instead of asking for change, he immediately started in on a story about how his daughter had been taken by a giant bird.

"Did it look like it was wearing a mask?" I asked. "And have these long trailing feathers?"

"Yes!" the man exclaimed. "Have you seen it?"

"Yes," I said hesitantly, not really wanting to get into the whole thing.

"You must help me!" the man insisted. "If you save my daughter from that monster, I will be forever in your debt! Can you do this for me? Please?"

"Sure I will," I said. "Of course."

"Oh thank you kind sir!" the man bowed to me several times. "Thank you! Thank you!"

This was getting embarrassing, so I excused myself as politely as I could. Before passing under that archway, I asked a man standing nearby about it. All he said was that it represented home to him.

That made me wonder, what was home to me?

The city was a hive of activity. It looked like everyone on the island was in the streets; walking, talking, just being. The kind of place that didn't deserve giant birds kidnapping its children.

There weren't many shops, and none that looked like they would have a sail. You might think that any island would have that kind of thing, just in case, but it was rarely true. The people who lived on the islands were islanders, and they took care of their own.

The little shop on the hill sold bombs. At first I was very excited by this, but the shopkeeper turned out to be one of those high-and-mighty types who thought all children were sticky-faced little thieves. Jerk. Plus he charged way too much. Who could possibly afford that much for only ten bombs!

There was one little shop that I almost passed right by, because there was nothing in it. It was staffed by just one small man, wearing a thick fur-lined coat that was far too warm for this weather. I was curious though, so I decided to strike up a conversation.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, the man was the type of person who would tell his life's story to a brick wall. I found myself treated to a tale of epic adventure and tragedy in search of fortune. And apparently in the end Zunari, for that was the man's name, lost everything except the thing he called "that." From the context, I thought it might be a sail.

"From the looks of you, I would say you are a traveler as well," Zunari said. "Oh, yes indeed! Could you not purchase that from me? It is my one and only heirloom from home. The people in this town do not seem the least bit interested in that, despite the fact that it would help them travel the dangerous seas about their town... Please! I beg of you! I wish to open a business here in this town, so I am in desperate need of finances. How does... 80 rupees sound?"

It sounded like robbery, but I was desperate. "Sure," I said.

"Yes, yes, yes! You have made a good purchase today, my young master! You have saved my life and business as well! Treasure it dearly! It is the finest sail in the world! Treat it as such!"

"Er, right. Thank you."

Sail acquired, all I had left to do was make sure I wouldn't die for the next few days. Food, water, a tarp; all easy enough to find. But I didn't want to go back to the boat just yet. For one thing, it was creepy. A talking boat! How could I not be a little freaked?

But he seemed nice, and he had a point. I didn't know what I was doing with that Ganon guy. I didn't know what I was doing _at all_. Chances were good the boat knew more than I did.

Wow, what did that say about my intelligence?

I found a bench that had a nice view of the ocean and sat down for a think. The facts were: Aryll was still kidnapped, and her kidnapper was damn scary. Ganon. The guy who... Well I couldn't remember exactly what the stories said he'd done, but it was bad. I knew that much at least.

And the boat had a plan. Or it seemed to anyway. And I didn't.

Really...what did I have to lose?

I gathered up my stuff and headed back to the little bay under the cliff. The King of Red Lions waited patiently, watching me with those painted eyes. What really creeped me out about it was that it wasn't at all creepy. Shouldn't painted wooden eyes be creepy?

"Well?" he asked.

"Got a sail," I said

"Excellent! Are you ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Do you know how to sail?"

"Vaguely."

"Well I can give you instruction along the way. We do not have much time, so we should get started."

Learning to sail from a boat makes more sense than it should. You'd think, with being the boat and facing forward most of the time, the King of Red Lions wouldn't know as much about what went on on his back, but he did. He told me to mark the place we were sailing to on my sea chart, announced that a westerly wind was blowing, and we were off.

I like sailing. Always have. The feeling of freedom, it's like nothing else. I'd never sailed with a destination in mind before, and never nearly so far from home. I wasn't that good at it either, as it turned out. I was so busy learning, I didn't even have time to be scared.

"Hey, um, can I call you King?" I asked after a while.

"If you wish," the boat said, sounding amused.

"It's just, you know, King of Red Lions is kind of long."

"I understand."

"So where are we going?"

"It is not far. We will be there shortly."

"Am I gonna have to fight?"

"I do not know. I hope not."

"Well when will we get there?"

"How old are you Link?"

"I just turned twelve, why?"

"No reason. There! On the horizon! That is our destination Link, Dragon Roost Island."

"Dragon Roost Island," I repeated. "Cool."

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Sorry this took solong. And was so short. There was...a death in the family. Two deaths actually. And as if that wasn't bad enough, I literally cried myself sick. So, uh, yeah. Sorry.


	5. The Roosting Dragon

Chapter 5. The Roosting Dragon

It was just before noon when we got to the island, and King said I'd have plenty of time.

"High atop this island's peak lives the spirit of the skies, a great dragon by the name of Valoo."

"A dragon? Like, a real dragon?"

"_Yes_, a real dragon." King rolled his eyes. "Look for yourself."

"Huh?"

"On top of the mountain."

I turned and peered upward. Far, far, upward. Something red, organic, moving above the crags. And then it bellowed, shaking the entire island.

"Holy crap!"

"You must go see this dragon-"

"_See _it?" I exclaimed. "That thing'll kill me!"

"Dragons are not like the stories Link. This one is a kind spirit, a guardian."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Link, you must see this dragon and request from him a jewel called Din's Pearl."

"Din's Pearl." I turned back to him. "Hey, isn't Din a goddess?"

"Very good. Yes. Ask the people of the Rito tribe who inhabit this island about how to see the dragon."

"Rito? Like Quill! Okay." I knew better than to judge an entire race by the actions of one man, but I figured Quill could vouch for me at least.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Wait just a moment!" I turned and saw something in the boat's mouth. He jerked his head and tossed the object at me.

It was slim and silver, looking a bit like a cross between a magic wand and a conductor's baton.

"That is the Wind Waker," King said. "It is a baton of sorts that was used long ago when people played music in prayer of the gods. In those days, simply using it allowed one to borrow the power of the gods, but I don't know if it still works. Even so, I thought it might be of some use to you."

"How do I use it?"

"You must conduct! Try to conduct in 3/4 time."

"3/4 time..." I looked at the wand. "Uh...how?"

"Three beats. Count off three beats."

"Okay, um..." I held up the wand and closed my eyes. Three beats. Three...heartbeats? I tapped the wand in the air three times.

"Very niceཀ" King exclaimed. "Now try 4/4 time."

"Four beats?"

"Of course."

I tapped the baton four times.

"Good! That was not bad for your fist time using the Wind Waker. There is also 6/4 time. Those three are the most commonly used in music."

"Just one question King."

"Yes?"

"Who am I conducting?"

The King was silent. His wooden face showed no emotion, but I could guess what he was feeling. He opened his mouth once, as though to say something, then closed it. Finally he said, "You should go speak with the Rito."

"Right-o." I saluted him with the baton and headed up the beach.

Dragon Roost was little more than a big mountain sticking out of the water, though technically underwater mountain is the definition of an island. It didn't even have a full beach around it. There was a little tunnel running underneath the mountain, but it didn't look like it led anywhere interesting. Up on a little cliff was what looked like an entrance, but the cliff was too high for me to climb up, and the path that led up to it had a big gap in it. There was a big rock that I thought I could use to bride the gap, or at least stand on so I could climb up, but it was firmly lodged in the mountain side.

I wandered around looking for a stick to pry it out with (rock-prying is _not _what swords or magic wands are for) but instead found a little patch of odd-looking plants. The sign nearby called them "bomb flowers" and warned me to be careful.

Explosive plants. Sounds good to me!

As soon as I picked one it started _hissing_, which I doubted was a good thing, so I ran up the path at top speed and chucked the thing at the rock in the mountain.

Word of advice kiddies; do not stand within ten yards of an explosion. Better advice; do not stand within a _hundred _yards of an explosion.

That sign wasn't kidding.

The good news was that the bomb flower had done its job, and I could now get across the gap. What I thought was an entrance just led to more path, but I followed that path and came around to the other side of the mountain. There were a few Rito flying around, and a few more standing at attention at various points. They were dressed in the simple style of all the other Rito I'd seen, and one of the ones near me even looked just like..

Wait.

"Quill!" I shouted.

He turned. "Link! Link is that you?"

"It's me Quill!" I ran up to him and resisted the urge to hug him. "Oh man, you will not _believe _what's happened!"

"I can imagine," he smiled warmly. "I'm so pleased you're all right. I must say, you've traveled far for one with no wings."

"We Hylians are adaptable."

"And your sister? Is she..."

I looked away.

"Is that so?" He sighed. "Well, don't worry too much. I'm sure she'll hang in there."

I shuffled my feet. I _wasn't_ sure.

Quill patted me on the head. "I have an idea, Link. Would you like to meet our chieftain?"

I looked up at him. "Really?"

"Of course. I've told my people here about you, and all of us Rito are very concerned. I'm certain the chieftain will befriend you and lend you the aid of our aerie."

"Really? That's great!"

"It's settled, then! I'll fly on ahead and let everyone know you're coming. Come inside, Link! I'll be waiting!"

Quill leapt into the air and flapped off. I kept along the path, not like there was anywhere else for me to go. It was a sheer drop at the best of places, and _I_ couldn't fly.

I chatted up one of the guard-looking guys, to give Quill more time to prepare, and he told me about a flight platform way out to sea. Sounded like fun, but I couldn't fly.

I was starting to feel inadequate.

With nothing else to do, I headed inside. The cavern was huge, or at least it seemed that way to me, and full of activity. I had forgotten that most Rito work as postmen. It seemed odd to me that an entire race had devoted itself to delivering mail, but hey, it was up to them. And they certainly seemed dutiful. Most of the people were rushing around holding clipboards, which gives you an air of industriousness no matter _where _you are.

There was a clump of Rito standing in the middle of the room, including Quill and a guy who _had _to be the chief. As I approached, he was speaking to another man.

"So have you discovered the cause of the great Valoo's anger?"

Quill saw me and cleared his throat. The chief turned.

"Ah. So, you are Link, are you?"

"Yes sir." I bobbed my head in a little half-bow.

"Quill has told me all about you. A troubling tale, indeed... I insist you let us know if there is anything we can do to help you. We shall do anything in our power to assist you."

"Thank you sir!" Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all!

"However," he sighed, "we have a problem of our own to deal with..."

"Oh?"

"When you arrived on the island, did you notice the raging dragon perched atop the mountain?"

"How could I not?"

"As you can see, we of the Rito tribe are profoundly connected to the sky. We make our livings on the airways. We do so by the graces of the sky spirit, Valoo. When a Rito reaches adulthood, he or she journeys to the top of Dragon Roost to receive a scale from the great dragon. It is this scale that enables the Rito to grow his or her wings. But recently the once-gentle Valoo has grown violent and unpredictable, and we can no longer approach him. If this continues, the fledglings who are of age will never be able to receive scales from Valoo on Dragon Roost. They will remain wingless, and in time, our very way of life will be threatened. As chieftain of the Rito, my first responsibility is to solve this problem. My apologies, but I must ask you to wait for our assistance until this is done. Will you do so?"

"Of course. You gotta do what you gotta do."

Quill turned to the chief. "What do you think of consulting Link with regards to your son, Prince Komali? As you can see, Link is a gallant young lad!" He smiled and clapped me on the shoulder. "I feel certain that Prince Komali would open his heart and speak freely of his fears and worries."

"That may be..." the chief murmured. He turned back to me. "Link, let me be direct. My son, Komali, is of the age to earn his wings... Yet... he is weak, in some ways... and in light of the current situation, he may just give up on ever getting them... What say you? Will you share some of your courage with my son? Will you meet with my son?"

"Sure, okay." They were going to help me, I ought to help them. Giving a pep talk to a kid was getting off easy.

"I thank you! We shall do our best to solve our problem as quickly as possible, so that we may better help you with yours."

"Okay! Thanks!"

"I have something I wish of you to give to my son. A young girl named Medli is holding it for me. Will you find her and take it?"

"Sure thing." I wondered why _he _didn't have the thing, but it was none of my business.

"Here, Link," Quill handed me something. "Take this. Who knows? It might come in handy."

"Ooh." It was a delivery bag, like the one he had. "Thanks Quill! I think you're right."

"You should find Medli in one of the upper rooms," the chief said. "Leave the great Valoo to us. In the meanwhile, do your best to aid Prince Komali!"

"Yes sir!"

Up the ramp that wound along the wall of the cavern. There was more busyness on the upper floor, including the actual mail sorting place. I meant to ask the guy there where I could find this "Medli," but I wound up getting distracted by the actual sorting of the mail. By me.

Eventually though, I found her on a balcony outside. She had red hair and a harp on her back, and was only a little shorter than me.

"Oh!" she said when she saw me. "So you're the guy with the green clothes and the strange-shaped hat!"

"Am I?" I looked down at myself. "I am."

"You're Link, right?"

"Yeah. Who are you?"

"Oh, me? I'm an attendant of the great sky spirit, Valoo. My name is Medli. Well, to tell the truth, I'm not an attendant quite yet. I'm actually still studying to be one. Oh, what am I thinking?" She smacked herself in the forehead, then reached into her pocket and plled out a letter. "Here! This is from the chieftain. Link, he wants you to give this directly to Prince Komali."

"So I've heard." It was a fancy letter, closed with a wax seal and everything. Sheesh. What ever happened to parents _talking _to their kids?

"The room way in the back on the first floor is Prince Komali's room," Medli said, gesturing a bit the way people do when they give directions. "You have to go down a couple steps to get there."

"Okay."

"When you meet Prince Komali, please don't get offended by his manner."

"His manner?"

"He has no bad intentions, I promise."

"That's not exactly reassuring."

She shuffled her feet and looked so miserable that I just sighed and said, "Okay, I promise not to let first impressions get the best of me."

"Thank you!" She smiled happily. "You really are nice. No wonder the chieftain trusts you."

"Yeah, well..." I felt myself blush.

"By the way, um... Listen, Link... I have a small favor I'd like to ask of you... Could you please come to the entrance of Dragon Roost Cavern later? ...I'll explain everything then."

"Well, okay, sure." Seemed like I was helping everyone lately. Of course, stopping Ganondorf and saving the world kind of qualified me as a hero, right?

Kind of.

I went back inside and down the ramp, avoiding the mail sorting booth. Sure enough, doorway in the back. The passageway was longer than I'd expected, but there was a door at the back. I knocked.

No answer.

Knocked again. "Prince Komali?"

"Go away!"

"Your father sent me."

"I don't care. Go away!"

"No." I opened the door.

The room was bigger than my entire house back on Outset, but most of that was empty floor space. There was a thing of shelves full of bones and skulls, and a bed with curtains and more shelves around it. Prince Komali was lying on his bed, holding a bright orange ball on his stomach.

"Hi there," I said.

Komali said nothing.

"I have a letter from your father."

"A letter?" he sat up. "From my father?"

"Yup. Here," I handed it to him.

He took it and started reading. As he did I looked at the ball in his lap. It wasn't just bright, it was glowing!

"Oh, sure," Komali said suddenly. "Telling me to be brave is easy enough for him, it's not like he's the one who went through that horrible experience. It's not like _he _still has to go get a scale from Valoo." He glared up at me. "You're in this letter, too, you know," he flapped it at me. "Poking your nose in other people's business. You're nosy, aren't you?"

"A bit, yeah."

He snorted. "Sorry, but I really don't feel like going to see Valoo right now. I mean, how am I suppose to get a scale from him when he's so upset?"

"Something's wrong with him, obviously. Someone just needs to figure out what it is and calm him down."

"What? You think _you _could do it?"

I shrugged. "I could try."

"Psssssh! That's just a big, fat lie! It's easy to _say _you can do anythingཀ Bragging doesn't cost a thing!" He pointed at me. "I'll tell you what, if you can find me someone who can get past all the obstacles on Dragon Roost to get to Valoo..._then _I'll listen to anything you say!"

"Fine! I will! I'll show you, you spoiled little brat! You can't accomplish anything lying in your room!" I spun on my heel and stomped out of the room.

The passage was long enough that by the time I reached the end of it I had calmed down. I'd also realized I'd forgotten to ask about hat glowing ball of his.And I had remembered my promise to Medli. Dragon Roost Cavern. Okay, I could find that.

There _were _signs, after all.

The wind was filled with grit and blew hotly across the pit in front of me. It shifted its direction on a whim, one moment threatening to snatch my hat off, the next blasting my eyes with ash. A broken bridge stood to my left, the ends hanging limply toward the ground. A patch of those weird bomb flowers grew near the fence at the edge of the cliff, but they were dried out and dead. This was not a happy place.

Medli was down in the pit, and the remains of the bridge served as a makeshift ladder to get down to her. She was standing on a rock, staring up at the cavern entrance on the opposite cliff, and didn't hear me come up behind her. I cleared my throat. She still didn't hear. I coughed, loudly, to be heard over the searing wind.

"Hey, you actually came!" She smiled happily down at me.

"I said I would didn't I?" I climbed up on the rock beside her.

"I'm really sorry for bringing you to such a dangerous place, but I had to! I wouldn't have asked if I didn't need help desperately."

"This place isn't so dangerous." I looked around. "Bit unpleasant, but not dangerous."

"When Valoo throws a fit, this is where the rocks usually land."

I looked at her. She looked back, face dead serious.

"You had better _really _need help."

"There used to be a spring here, surrounded by a beautiful pond... It was peaceful and lovely. But then the great Valoo... He became so angry, and... In his rage, he shook the mountain and that boulder crashed down, plugging the spring. You can see the result."

The boulder she was referring to was gigantic, maybe ten time taller than I was, and so big that it would take a dozen of me to reach around it. It was in a depression, that I'd mistaken at first for a crater, but I could see now that it had water in it.

"Death and decay," I said.

"Yes. Water is the source of all life. There are even stories that once, a long time ago, we Rito were water-dwellers. But when the water consumed most of the land, we took to the air."

"Why? Wouldn't it make more sense for water-dwellers to stay water-dwellers?"

Medli shrugged. "Perhaps we were _fresh_ water-dwellers, and the salt drowned our home." She started. "Oh, but where is my mind? How was Prince Komali?"

"Uh..." Think quickly Link! "He seemed...upset."

"Upset?"

"At the world."

"Oh... That doesn't sound right, not at all..." I let Medli fret for a minute or two, but she recovered herself before I had to poke her.

"I may be partially to blame for the bad turn that Prince Komali's taken," she said. "See, Prince Komali's grandmother was the great Valoo's former attendant. She was an amazing woman. I was honored to have her as my teacher. She was kind and brave and unsurpassed in her dealings with the great Valoo. I'm not yet worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as her. If only I'd possess some of her strength, I'm sure Prince Komali would have felt more secure."

"Uh, Medli? It sounds to me like you're not to blame _at all_ for Prince Komali's behavior. It's not your fault you're not his grandmother. Also? You seem to have some self-esteem issues. Do you need a hug?"

Medli laughed. "All right, maybe I am a little hard on myself, but I still want to do what I can. Link, I'm sorry to ask this but I need your help! I want to go to the small shrine that's near the peak of Dragon Roost, but that ledge over there is so high... If I could get some wind under my wings, I'm sure I could get up there. So will you help me?"

"Um, sure, but I don't know what you want me to do."

"Pick me up."

"Pick you up."

"Yes. Then face that ledge and toss me!"

"_Toss _you?"

"Yes. The atmospheric currents are really messed up, so pay close attention to the direction of the wind."

"You want me to pick you up and toss you."

"Yes!"

I shook my head. "Okay, if you say so." I had the sinking feeling that this was not going to be the weirdest thing I was asked to do in the next few days.

Medli was very light. I thought I remembered hearing somewhere that birds could fly because they had hollow bones, so I guess it made sense.

"All right, I'm ready! Don't hold back, now! Throw me as hard as you can!"

I shook my head again. Why would that feeling not go away?

As soon as I felt the wind pushing at my back, I chucked Medli at the cliff. Light as she was, she was still too heavy for me to throw her that far, but she spread her wings and caught the draft, and made it up the cliff with no trouble.

"Oh, thank you!" Medli called down to me. "I think now I'll be able to climb Dragon Roost and meet with the great Valoo."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I shouted. "I mean, isn't he all like pissed off and stuff?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine! I may just be an apprentice attendant, but I can understand some of the great Valoo's language." She smiled sheepishly. "I'm not exactly bursting with confidence, but..."

"Should have taken me up on that hug!"

She laughed again, but the smile quickly died from her face. "Look, if anything happens to me... Please look after Prince Komali!

"_Me_?"

Medli ignored my protest. "This is all I have to give to you. I know it's not much, but please take it."

I caught the object she dropped, but watched her disappear into the cavern before examining it. It was a bottle, a nice one, pretty big and made of clear glass.

Hmm...

Medli would not be safe in there, that much was clear. She had no faith in herself, and no plan. I didn't have a plan either, but I did have a sword, which is _better _than a plan. Besides, if I hurried I could catch up with her, and then we could be planless together.

The part of the bridge hanging from the cliff below the cavern wasn't long enough for me to reach it, so that was a bust. But the bottle had given me an idea.

I scooped up some of the gritty water from beneath that giant boulder, then took it to the dried up bomb flowers on the other side. I didn't know how much good it would do, but those flowers seemed to have pretty fast regenerative powers. Good planning on Nature's part. What with the exploding and all.

I poured all the water on the plant closest to the fence, and the color returned to it almost instantly. I watched as a round bud formed among the leaves, swelling within moments to a normal-sized bomb. Sweet.

I figured it would take more than one hit to get rid of that boulder but, as I said, those bomb flowers were resilient. I chucked the first one at the top of the boulder, missed badly, and threw myself to the ground as it exploded against the near side of the rock. When I looked up, I saw a spiderweb of cracks where the bomb had hit. Progress!

Two more bombs and slightly improved aim and the gigantor-boulder shattered. Go me!

The spring had more power than I'd thought it would, and the _entire pit_ filled with water. This was good, since it would be that much easier to swim across, but it was a surprise.

The water was already gray with ash, and oddly warm. When I climbed out on the other side my clothes were covered in grime. Urgh.

I forgot about my clothes when I saw inside the cavern though. Lava. Magma. Molten rock. _Lava_.

I had chosen to do this on my own. And I thought _Medli _had issues?

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I return! If anyone cares. Yeah, um, enjoy the chapter. Still trying to settle on a style for this one. Still trying to wean myself of game scripts. Sorry for being gone so long, but it really wasn't my fault. ;


	6. Playing in an Active Volcano

Chapter 6. Playing in an Active Volcano

Getting across the lava wouldn't be easy. It was too wide to jump, and I sure as hell couldn't _swim _across. How could Medli have done it? Well, flew, duh.

I couldn't fly, so I had to find another way. There were a couple of statues holding jars on either side of the lava, and they were close enough together that I thought I could use them as a bridge if I knocked them down. There were some bomb flowers growing nearby, so all I had to do was chuck one of them at the statues, and try not to get myself blown up or burned.

Easier said than done.

The first one went down without much trouble, but the second was too far away. I had to hop onto the first statue and throw as quickly as I could. It took three tries, and I was severely bruised and scorched by the time it was over.

The inside of the cavern was less lava-filled and more...temple-like. There were carvings and stuff everywhere. Very pretty, but I didn't have time to admire it. Getting past the lava had taken too much time. I wasn't sure if I could catch up to Medli at all now.

Especially since I didn't know how to get out of this room. After some searching, I discovered that the statues on blocks at the back of the room weren't nailed down. So I pulled and push and found a hole in the wall. I wasn't sure if it was the way Medli had gone, but it was better than going back.

Well, that's what I thought anyway. Before the Bokoblins attacked me out of the dark. I ran around blindly for a bit, defending as best I could, until I got a lucky hit and one of them fell back and burst into smoke. With one gone, it wasn't long before I finished off the other one too.

I grabbed a stick one of the Bokoblins had dropped, and used it to light some of the torches I'd run into as I'd been fighting. Now that the room finally had some light, I could see that it was much bigger than the one I'd just left, but also not nearly as pretty. I did find a key on the floor, which was nice, since it meant I didn't have to go back _or _bust down a door to get out of there.

I headed down the little hallway, toward the ominous orange glow. I knew what I would find, but ii was hoping it would be easier to deal with this time. I passed a boarded-up doorway on the way, but I doubted there was anything interesting beyond it.

I was right. Lava. A gigantic cavern, the bottom of which was completely filled with lava. At least there was a bridge. And...a cage? Oh well.

To get to the big bridge I had to follow this smaller bridge to a ledge along the wall, halfway around the cavern. I had to move a big block just to get that far. Medli, no doubt, hadn't even needed to cross the bridge.

I was starting to suffer from serious wing envy.

Keese attacked me on the bridge. I had to swing carefully, to avoid cutting the ropes which protected me from burny death. In the end I figured it was easier to just run for it, and kill them only on solid ground.

Once the Keese were gone, I was presented with another problem. A huge boulder blocked the door. Luckily, this problem was easily solved with explosives.

It only took one bomb flower to blow up the rock, which was encouraging. Getting better at throwing those thing meant I would be spending less time getting blown up, and more time catching up to Medli.

The next room had more lava and a bunch of jars filled with water. I may not be the brightest torch in the hallway, but I know what happens when you mix lava and water. There was a big ol' chest on the other side of the lava, and I wanted to get to it. Pot goes in lava, smashy smashy, instant platform! Whoo!

I didn't think the platform would stay solid long, so I hopped across and to the chest as fast as I could. Inside was a map! All right! Now I would be less lost!

Another smashed water pot got me to the door and out of the now-boring room. Finally, I was out of the lava. Unfortunately there was another Bokoblin there to hurt me, and this one had a sword. Well, okay, it was really more like a gigantic knife, but it was still a weapon and it could still kill me. So I had to kill its wielder first.

At least, that's what I told myself.

There was another boarded-up doorway in the room, and my sword wasn't enough to smash through it. I tried kicking, even though I knew it was futile, then just gave up and used the fallen Bokoblin's sword. It worked, but I felt bad about it.

There were more boards in the room beyond, so I had to keep the big sword. I found another key, which was nice at least.

The locked door led me back to the giganto-cavern with all the lava and Keese, but there was a boulder blocking my way. The only bomb flowers were growing out of the wall, so I chucked rocks at them until they exploded.

I left the cavern by a different exit this time, one that the map told me led outside. There was another Bokoblin along the way, luckily without a sword. Once it was gone, I used the stick it dropped to burn through another boarded-up doorway. The switch beyond it lowered the bars that blocked the real doorway.

What was with this place and locked doors?

I took a deep breath of the salt-scented air outside. You don't know how good it feels to be able to smell the ocean when you've been inhaling sulfur for a good twenty minutes.

It wasn't exactly safe out there though. The drop to the water was much farther than I liked, and there were scorch marks on the rocks above me. The path curved up the side of the mountain, leading me up a ladder and across a slim board. There was a crack in the mountain with an ominous glow in its depths that made me want to move faster than was safe. It turned out my fear was justified though, when a jet of lava burst from the crack, mere yards from the back of my head.

Eep.

I couldn't go back, due to fear mostly, but it looked like I couldn't go forward either. There was another board in lieu of a bridge, but this one was placed right up under a rock. There was a bit of the board sticking out, but it wasn't big enough for me to walk on. It looked like all I could do was hang underneath it and go hand-over-hand.

Again, eep.

I walked out on the board as far as I could, then sat down and squeezed the edge as hard as I could with one hand.

Then I slid off.

It hurt a bit, pulling at my shoulder, but as soon as I got the other hand up there it wasn't so bad. Carefully, slowly, one hand at a time, I made my way across. The hardest part was trying not to look down. I _knew _I didn't want to see my feet hanging over that much empty air, but I had this morbid urge to look. It wasn't until my fingertips stopped brushing stone that I allowed myself to even move my eyes from staring at the rock face.

I pulled myself back onto the board and scrambled the rest of the way to solid ground. Since it was going to haunt me, I peered over the edge of the cliff. _Oh _yeah, I had _not _wanted to see my feet hanging over _that_.

I had to climb up a little ridge and blow up a boulder, but I made it back inside. I hadn't thought I'd be grateful to be enclosed by rock again, but given the alternative...

I came to a room with a bunch of blocks all stacked up in the middle of the floor. The doorway was way up high, so I pushed and pulled at the blocks until I had a suitable staircase. Beyond that was a room with rats, a compass, and a key.

Then I wound up outside again. Luckily this time there wasn't as much lava, or as much danger, but there was a Helmaroc on a little outcropping. Those things are _mean_, especially when nesting. Which this one was. It flew at me, screeching, and I barely had time to draw my sword to defend myself. I'd planned on just running past it, but the door was locked and I saw something shiny and key-like in the Helmaroc's nest.

It was a cautious fighter, hanging back at glaring at me, then darting forward as soon as my attention wavered. It had a long thin neck though, and one good swipe half-severed it. The carcass fell off the edge of the cliff, and I heard it burst into smoke on the way down.

There was blood on my sword. I scrubbed it off with dirt as best I could, but there was still a smear.

I decided that I didn't like blood.

There was more lava, and more Keese, and Bokoblins hiding in jars, and a lot of other stuff that I don't remember. I had given up on catching up with Medli, and was moving forward more out of inertia than anything else. Crazy lava centipedes and unstable platforms on top of lava spouts some how seemed easier than turning around and going back. Maybe it was stubbornness, maybe it was that the danger you don't know about is less scary than the danger you've already faced. Except that that doesn't make sense at all, does it?

I choose to blame testosterone.

Yet again, I found myself outside. There was a wide staircase this time. It looked slightly crumbly, and didn't seem to be supported by anything, but I assumed it would be safe.

I was wrong.

As soon as I started up the steps, they started falling down behind me. I switched to a run, and they just fell faster. Talk about poor engineering. There were a lot of stairs too, and more than one staircase. By the time I reached the top my legs were burning and I could barely breathe. I coughed a couple of times and spat, then straightened up and looked around.

There was a big gate, open, and a wide round space beyond it. At the far end was a cave, with bars at the mouth. I figured it was a prison, but why would there be a prison at the top of a mountain? That was when I saw Medli inside it.

"Medli!" I ran toward her.

"Link!" she shouted. "Don't! It's a-"

The gate slammed shut behind me, and a couple of Helmarocs dropped off a pair of Moblins.

"Oh shit."

Moblins are big, but they're slow and stupid, so in theory I should have had the advantage. In theory. But the theorists forget to take into account just how _very big _those things are. It had a spear nearly as big as it was, and nothing on its mind but hurting me.

I did the only thing that seemed reasonable at the time; I ran for it. The Moblin chased me, but like I said, it was slow.

Medli was shouting something at me, battle strategy maybe, or just words of encouragement, but I couldn't hear over the pounding in my ears. This was too much, too soon. I was _tired_, and I didn't know how much longer I could keep this up. The Moblin didn't care, of course, but it wasn't smart enough to figure out what I was about to do.

I ran a curve near the wall of the enclosure, looping around so that I was behind the Moblin. It followed my path, not seeming to realize it was in danger. It's also possible that it just didn't consider me a threat. I _was _about a fourth its size. But, tiny or not, I had a sword and I knew how to use it.

I got one good hit in before the Moblin turned around, and I manage to hit it again before it tried to hit back. I ducked under the giant spear, and hit the Moblin's hand with the flat of my sword. Sure enough, it dropped the spear, giving me enough room to finish it off.

I stood there and panted for a bit while it exploded into smoke, then grabbed the key it left behind and went to free Medli.

"What are you doing up here?" she demanded as I unlocked the door. "Don't you know how dangerous it is?"

"I do _now_," I said.

"Oh. Right. Well. You shouldn't have come!"

"Uh, Medli?" I opened the door and leaned against the frame. "I appreciate that you were worried about me, but _I'm_ not the one who got thrown in a jail cell."

"Yeah..." she blushed. "All right, so maybe I got in a little over my head."

"A little?"

She bowed. "Thank you for rescuing me. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"It's okay. So did you find out anything?"

"Oh! Yes! It's so terrible! Some creature is doing awful things to the great Valoo's tailཀ That's why he's so angryཀ"

"Huh. Makes sense, I guess."

Medli walked out toward the middle of the enclosure and pointed at the mountain. "The great Valoo's tail hangs down into the room right below here. There's got to be something in there... I wonder if those monsters who captured me have something to do with it..."

"Probably. In my experience, monsters usually have the same goal in mind. Of course, that goal seems to be mainly to hurt me, but you know what I mean."

She smiled. "I noticed. We've got to do something, before it's too late!"

"Like what?"

"I'll go and tell everyone what I've found out, you try and find a way into the room with the creature!"

I looked around. "But how do I get out of here? You can fly, but I'm grounded."

"Maybe not." Medli took a coil of rope out of the bag at her waist. "This is what I used to get this far. It's a device we Rito used before we evolved wings."

I took it, and noticed the big metal hook tied to the end. "Is this...a grappling hook?"

"Yep! Come on, I'll show you how to use it." She took off and flapped up to a ledge with a bar thing sticking out of it. "Grappling hook point," she announced, pointing at it. "You'll find them everywhere Rito have been. And Rito have been everywhere."

"Cool. So, uh, how do I..."

"Swing it around a bit, then aim for the bar."

I tried, missed badly, tried again, missed less badly, tried one more time, and actually made it! The hook spun around the bar a couple of times, then dug into the wood. I tugged on it to make sure it was really stuck, then swung across the gap.

"All right! That was cool!"

"Great!" Medli congratulated me. She flew over to another one. "Now try again!"

I did, and only missed once. It was surprisingly easy to get the hang of. The path with all the grappling hook point led down and away, to a big boarded up gap over a cliff. I smashed the boards with my sword and hopped down to the path below.

Medli wished me luck and took off down toward the beach. I entered the door behind me and made my way back to that big room with the bridge. The map told me where I needed to go, if I was reading it right, but it was a winding route. I had to slice the ropes of the bridge, bust up a cage, swing around with the grappling hook, chuck Magtails, and ride lava spouts. I'm pretty sure I was lost for part of it, but I made it to a room with stairs, pots, more Magtails, and a Big Creepy Door.

I could feel the heat coming from beyond it before I was close enough to touch it. There was more lava in there, I was sure. It's not that I was scared, exactly, but lava is not really god for people.

Medli had told me to find a way in. I had. That monster was lava-proof. I was not. I had no reason to go in there.

But I was going to.

Maybe it was Prince Komali, so shattered by his grandmother's death. Maybe it was righteous indignation at what the Rito were going through. Maybe I was mad as hell and not going to take it any more. Either way, I was going in there. And I intended to kick some ass.

I pushed the heavy door open, and walked into a room that was pretty much what I'd expected. This _was _a volcano after all. A big rough cavern, with a lake of lava in the middle. There was something odd and red hanging from the ceiling, and what looked like wide wooden shelves on the walls. For some reason.

As I stared around the room, all bemused, something was happening in the lava lake. The boiling didn't seem like anything unusual, given that is was a lava lake, but when the giant centipede monster thing burst from it, I knew I was in for trouble.

It was huge. I mean _really _huge. I can't even compare it to my own size, that's how big it was. Tan and red, with one giant eye. I don't know why exactly, but the thing just screamed evil.

And that red thing hanging from the ceiling? Valoo's tail.

The ginormous monster reared back, always a bad sign, and I ran for it. Good idea, as it turned out, since the monster could breathe fire. I ran and rolled and got around behind it. It started to turn, and I did the first thing that sprang to mind. I aimed for Valoo's tail and swung the grappling hook.

I heard the dragon roar, but there wasn't much I could do, what with already swinging through the air. The tail swung and the hook pulled free, and I wound up on one of those shelves.

I was very exposed, but luckily for me my swinging and Valoo's thrashing had shaken some rocks loose from the ceiling, and one of them crashed on the monster's head. It was stunned only for a minute, but its shell had cracked from the impact. Bugs, in my experience, were squishy under their shells. Couldn't hurt to try.

As soon as the monster recovered and tried to attack me again, I hooked Valoo's tail and swung across the room once more. Valoo screamed, the rocks fell, the monster cracked.

This time the monster was ready for me, and tried to snap me in its claws as I swung, but I was too small for it and it missed. Barely.

The shell cracked and split and fell completely off, revealing a much smaller head and a much larger eye. The eye rolled around, making the monster look almost like it was panicking. Good. The was, of course, a weak spot, so I chucked my grappling hook at it. Sure enough, the monster screeched and fell down, that big eye very exosed. I rushed it and started wailing away with my sword. There was no style in the attack, no technique, just sticking something pointy into something soft.

I felt the sword puncture the eye and go further, deeper, past another barrier and into something even more vital. I stumbled back, and watched, horrified, as the monster's eye wept blood and clear fluid, and then darkened. And finally, the body faded away.

The lava lake hardened into stone, and a light suddenly swirled around me. I had just enough time to realize it was a porta, before I was lifted off my feet and deposited on the grass next to the pond on the beach outside.

"Link!" Medli ran up to me, smiling. "You did it! I can't believe you did it!"

"Neither can I," I admitted, surprised at how much my voice was shaking.

She turned, and I saw Prince Komali coming up behind her. "Well, Prince Komali?" Medli said. "Don't you have something you want to say?"

Komali shuffled his feet and looked down at the ground. "Um, I heard everything from Medli... Link... Thank you so muchཀ I'm sorry I mistrusted you. I... hope I can be like you someday, Link."

"Like me?" I repeated. Medli interrupted before I could say more.

"You will, Komaliཀ I just know itཀ Right, Link?"

"Uh, right. Right! Of course you will!"

Komali shuffled some more. "So, Link?" He took something from the bag around his waist. It was that bright ball he'd had before. "...Here. I want you to take this, Link. Giving you the thing I value you most will give me the courage I need to stand up to bad thingsཀ"

"Are you sure, Prince Komali?"

He nodded, meeting my eyes for the first time. "I'm sure. Besides, I think you'll need this more than I do."

"Why's that?"

"Because." He pressed the ball into my hands. "That's Din's Pearl. It's a treasure that was handed down from the great goddess herself. And they say that it can be used to do great things." He looked up at me with eyes that held the kind of worship I hadn't even seen in Aryll's eyes since she was four. "I think _you _will do great things."

"Wow. Um. Gee. I... Thank you." It was hard to know what to say to that. But hey, I'd gotten what I came for.

"The Great Valoo is grateful to you, Link," Medli said. The dragon roared, and for the first time it sounded like there might be words in there.

"Use the wind god's...wind?" Medli said, sounding like she was repeating something. "That's what he said, but I don't understand. I wonder what it means? The wind's god wind... I wonder if what he's talking about has anything to do with the Wind Shrine that's through that tunnel..." She gestured at the tunnel that led under the mountain.

"Sounds like it's worth checking out," I said.

"Oh, I almost forgotཀ" Medli exclaimed. "The great Valoo also names you, Link, a true hero. I agree with him. As far as we're concerned, Link, you really _are _a heroཀ"

"A hero? Me? Because of that?" I waved my arm at the mountain. "That wasn't heroism, that was stubborness!"

"But you did it to help us!"

"Not really. I mean, sort of, but I had my own reasons too..." Then again, I _was _doing all of this to save Aryll and stop Ganon.

"Well, I'm going to go and visit Valooཀ" Prince Komali announced. "I'll come and see you sometime; with the best pair of wings everཀ"

He ran off and I smiled after him. "Good luck!"

"Hey! Prince Komali!" Medli started to run after him, but paused and looked at me. "Thanks so much, Link. See you again somedayཀ"

"See you, Medli."

And then I was alone.

"Link."

I turned in surprise. The King of Red Lions was floating near the shore, just where I'd left him. I'd almost forgotten about him. "That shrine the young Rito girl mentioned, you are right in thinking that it may be worth a look."

I just kept staring at him.

"Link?"

I shook my head. "I'm okay. I'm just...kind of tired. I've...had to kill a lot of things today. I don't think I like doing that."

King was silent for a moment, face passive as ever. "There is no shame in a dislike of killing. Sometimes it is necessary, to accomplish your goals, but it is not something to revel in. But you must remember that the creatures you destroy are not truly alive to begin with. They are composed of smoke and magic, and when their physical forms are destroyed, their essence returns to that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

It was the first time I'd heard King use any kind of slang. I smiled at him. "That's nice to know."

"Now about that shrine..."

"I'm going, I'm going. Be right back."

"I will be here."

I smiled again. "I know."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Whew. Okay, that was a mental workout. It's actaully twice as long as it was the first time I uploaded it, because I decided to make the entire dungeon one chapter. Be grateful!

The title is a nod to Hail Neko-Yasha, one of the best DeviantArtists out there. Not entirely sure I got her name right, but if you know her, you know who I meant.

It's, like, ten-thirty as I'm writing this. I've been awake for almost twenty hours (don't ask) so if I sound incoherent that's why. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, asI worked very hard on it. Oh, and be on the lookout for my Zelda doujinshi, sometime in the next few weeks over on DA.


	7. R&R

Chapter 7. R&R

The shrine was on a little island not far from shore on the other side of Dragon Roost. It barely took a moment to swim across to it. Once I was there, I saw to my dismay that one a lot of it was broken and destroyed. Only one standing stone was still intact, but even it was chipped and weather-worn.

There were markings on the surviving stone that looked like music notes. I hadn't had much chance to use the Wind Waker, but now seemed like as good a time as any to try.

I pulled out the baton and followed the markings on the stone. It was simple enough, only three notes, but it felt kind of odd. Like someone was watching me. Made me feel awkward.

Either way I played the song, and I felt the wind suddenly shift around me. That was weird, but what was weirder was the way that being watched feeling suddenly intensified.

"Yep! That's a miiiiiighty nice breeze!" a voice came from behind me.

I turned and yelped when I realized the speaker was a giant red frog, sitting on a cloud.

"The name's Zephos. I'm the god of winds." He grinned, with that disturbingly wide frog mouth. "So, you're the new Wind Waker, are you?"

"I- I guess so?"

"Great, greatཀ For a beginner, you've got a nice wind-sense about you."

"Thank you?"

"I like you, kidཀ That tune you just picked up? Well, it gives you control over the direction the wind blows."

"No kidding?" I exclaimed. Then I remembered who I was talking to. "I mean, um-"

Zephos laughed. "No worries, kid. But listen here. Depending on how it's used, wind can be a good thing or a very bad thing. You want an example of it being a bad thing, then you should see my brother. It saddens me to say that my brother, Cyclos, is miffed about his monument here being broken," he gestured at the broken stone on the left, "and now he spends his time creating cyclones to torment people with. So, if you encounter any cyclones at sea, chastise my brother for me, will you? And _that_...is my request for youཀ"

He laughed again and swirled off into the sky.

I stared at the baton in my hand. To change the direction of the wind... Could this little stick really have that kind of power? And that frog. Could he really have been...a god?

I wandered back to King, thoughts still humming over what had just happened. The Wind Waker... King had said that was the name of the baton, but Zephos had said...

"You look troubled," King said as I approached.

"There was this...frog..." I looked down at the Wind Waker.

"Ah. Zephos?"

"Yes! But how did you-"

"So that would mean you have learned the Wind's Requiem."

"Is that what it's called? That, um, Zephos guy. He said it could...change the direction of the wind?"

"It can."

"Oh. Well. All right then." I stuck the Wind Waker in my belt, waded out into the water and climbed up into the back of the boat. King turned his head and looked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you well?"

"I'm okay."

"You seem...tired."

"Maybe a little." I shrugged. "But hey, time is of the essence, right?"

"You will not be at your best if you are not rested properly. You will make mistakes. No matter how fast we move, if you make a mistake at the wrong time, all will be lost."

"So...what do you want to do?"

"It is late in the day, but Windfall is not far. There is at least one inn that I know of. We should head there, and you should get a good night's sleep."

I thought about the last couple days. "You know, that sounds really good."

"Would you like to test your new song?"

"Oh." I pulled the Wind Waker out of my belt. "How do I..."

"Face the direction you want the wind to blow."

"Oh, okay." I turned toward what I thought was Windfall's general direction, and raised the baton.

There it was again. That feeling. It wasn't exactly like being watched, more like something was expected of me. Like the world was waiting...

It was unnerving.

I played the song, thanking my lucky stars it wasn't too hard to remember, and sure enough, the wind was suddenly blowing from behind me, instead of from the right.

"Cool!"

"Yes, very."

We pulled away from the beach and started off to sea. I pulled out my Sea Chart to make sure we were heading in the right direction, but before I had more than a glance at it a voice called out to me.

"'Hoy! Hold it right there, small fry!"

I looked around to see who was talking, but couldn't see a boat or anything. Just empty ocean.

There was a shadow just under the water. I leaned over to look at it, which turned out to be a bad idea when a fish jumped out at me and I almost fell overboard.

"I don't know where you got your mitts on that Sea Chart you got there," the fish said, "but it looks to me like it's pretty much got nothing but seas drawn on itཀ"

I stared. A fish was talking to me. A _fish_. A blue, tattooed, chisel-jawed fish, but a fish nonetheless.

"It's pathetic! In fact, it's almost an insult to call that thing a Sea Chart, if you ask me!"

Maybe a talking fish wasn't _quite _as weird as a talking boat, but there's only so much weirdness a guy can take! And he was insulting my Sea Chart! Which was...in fact...quite empty.

"What's the matter, small fry? I'm just trying to be nice hereཀ I'm telling you that you've got a problem. And you do."

I just stared.

"Don't give me that stupefied lookཀ It makes me look like you oughta be in diapers! Just listen, okay? I'm here to teach you what I know about this island, so open up your Sea Chart! And make it snappy!"

I held it out for him, wondering what he was going to do. He produced a paintbrush from under the water somewhere, and held it in his mouth.

"Down here!"

I moved the chart down lower, and with a few quick brushstrokes, the fish mapped out Dragon Roost Island.

He but the paintbrush away and turned back to me.

"There's a real peculiar cave towards the backside of this here Dragon Roost Island. Yeah, real peculiar. But I doubt you'll ever get there to see it, small fry, unless you manage to sprout wings and fly, that is... 'Cause you won't be getting there otherwise!"

"Um, okay?

"That's all I can teach you, small fry! But I will do this for you, since I'm feeling so generous: I'll send word to all my brethren living near the islands of the Great Sea. Good bunch of fish. If you see a fish leaping out of the water when you sail near an island, sail up to it and spread bait out on the water's surface. Trust me, this is good advice, fry. See, the baiting process allows you to get a chart of the island, along with any info that might be of use to you. I _highly _recommend you make a habit of doing so. See, you're definitely going to need a reliable Sea Chart to help you search for things out at sea. I can't emphasize that enough, fry. You _need _a well-drawn chart. If you don't get a chart for every island you come across, it'll just be a bigger hassle for you later onཀ Now don't say I never did anything for you, fry!"

"Thank you?"

The fish turned to King. "'Hoy! You there! You Kingly Red Lion guy! That's it! I've repaid my debt! I'm done! You take care of the rest!"

"Fair enough, Fishman," King said. "I will."

The fish disappeared back beneath the water, paintbrush and all.

"King?"

"Yes?"

"What the hell was that?"

"That was Fishman. I did him a favor once, and he agreed to do me a favor in return."

"He could talk."

"All of his breed can talk."

"I didn't know there was a breed of talking fish."

"Now you do."

"Yeah..." I looked at the map of Dragon Roost. It was very good, showing all the little islands at the back and everything. And that fish had done it with a paintbrush in his mouth! "You think one of his 'brethren' will be near Windfall?"

"I would be surprised if one wasn't."

It was getting dark by the time we got to Windfall. King gave me directions to the inn he knew about, and though the innkeeper looked at me kind of funny, I didn't have any trouble getting a room. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to sleep, after all that had happened, but I was tired enough that I passed right out.

I woke late the next morning. King would probably be waiting for me, but I wanted to explore the town a bit. It was bustling, busy, happy. It reminded me of home, except for the bustling busy part.

I wandered to the eastern side of town, where I found a memorial stone, and some weirdo dancing in front of it. I, like all children, was taught not to talk to strangers. It was tempting, but I ignored him and decided to check out the building nearby.

It turned out to be the jail. I looked around curiously, never having been inside one before. There were some big jars stacked in one corner, for some reason, and when I examined them I found a switch!

I figured it was for the lights, since it was pretty dim in there, so I pressed it.

The cell door clicked open.

"Oops."

A small man dressed all in green walked out and stared around. I gulped. There was something about this guy; the way he walked, the way he was dressed, the way he looked at me; that set off alarm bells in my head that I hadn't even known I had.

"You sir!" the man said. He walked toward me with a strange hopping motion. His shoes squeaked. "Your clothes!"

"My-grandma-made-them-it's-not-my-fault," I said quickly.

"Could you be a fairy?"

"A _what_?"

"Perhaps not, but surely you are a friend to them! As am I!"

I started shuffling toward the door. "Okay, no offense dude, but I don't want to be put in _any _kind of group with you."

"My name is Tingle," the weirdo said. "I was falsely accused of stealing, and locked up in this cell. But you, my hero-"

He went to grab my hand, but I backed away. "Yeah, yeah, that's great. No problem."

"I live in a tower, not far southwest of here. I translate ancient text and maps. If you should ever have need of my services, you have but to ask. And pay my fee."

"Right, sure, maybe you should go?"

"Of course," Tingle nodded. "Thank you again, fairy friend."

As soon as he was out the door I rubbed my arms and muttered, "Freak..."

Morbid curiosity led me to the cell. There were toadstools growing in the corner, and an overall odor of damp pervaded the small room. There was a hole near the floor on the back wall, so I bent down and peered inside.

A small box was tucked away far back in the shadows. I pulled at it with my fingertips until I could grab it.

A pictobox! I'd only seen one once before, when one of Sue-Belle's friends brought one with her. It was pretty cool.

I took it outside and started snapping pictures. There were a lot of interesting people on Windfall. Some gossipy little girls scammed me out of a couple rupees, and their gossipy mothers accused me of being a delinquent. The weird schoolteacher asked me to help her with some little boys who were running amok, and I wound up playing hide and seek with them.

I met this rich dud who was the father of the other girl I had seen with Aryll. He totally tricked me into smashing these sparkly vases, bastard, but I'm not holding a grudge.

I stopped by the gallery and met a guy named Lenzo who looked at my pictures. He said I had potential, and offered to make me his apprentice. I thought about it for a bit before agreeing. I liked the pictobox, but an apprenticeship was a big deal. I didn't think I had the time. Technically, I should have left with King hours ago.

I told Lenzo that I came from Outset, and that I wouldn't be around Windfall much, but he said it was fine. He started ranting about his younger days when he wandered the world taking pictures. The gallery was proof that his stories were true. I had to admit, traveling the world just to travel the world held a great deal of appeal for me. There wasn't much that I wanted to do more. But Aryll, and the world, came first.

I told Lenzo I would talk to him later.

Only one thing I had to do before I left. That dancing guy, in the white jumpsuit with fringe. Now, I knew perfectly well that you're not supposed to talk to strangers in white pleather, but this guy was dancing in front of what looked like a tombstone! I couldn't _not _ask.

"Hey, buddy," I called as I walked up to him. "What are you doing?"

"Can't you tell?" He turned to me and beamed. "I am Tott. I love dancing more than I love three meals a day. You will come to know me as The World's Charismatic Dancer Extraordinaire!"

I could _hear _the capital letters.

"Good for you," I said. "But _why _are you doing it?"

Tott's eyes grew distant. "There was this man... He did a dance, and night turned to day. If I could just remember that rhythm, that glorious glorious rhythm."

"Rhythm?" I took the Wind Waker out of my belt. "This, maybe?" I counted off three beats.

"Yes! That's it! That's _it_!" Tott pointed to the right, then the left, then spun around and pointed down. He bobbed his head for a couple beats, then did it all over again.

"Why..." he said, finally stopping. "Why isn't it working?"

"Maybe you got it wrong?"

"No! No! That's impossible! I know I remembered it! So why...why..."

"Maybe it wasn't the dance. Maybe it was the man."

"That can't be! It can't _be_!"

"Sorry dude, but that seems to be the way it is."

"No! No. No..."

"Hooo boy... Um, I'm just gonna leave you to your...sorrow. See ya!"

I ran for it.

King was waiting for me at the dock, patient as...wood. "Having fun?" he asked.

"Erm, sort of. Uh. Sorry."

"It is not my sister who has been kidnapped."

I winced. "That was harsh."

"You are right, I apologize. We _should _be going however."

"I know, I know, but there was this guy! And this monument thing! And a song!"

"A song?" Now he sounded interested.

"He said it turned night to day!"

"I could be useful. But perhaps you should not test it now. Too much of the day has already passed."

"Yeah, okay." I splashed out into the harbor and climbed into him. "Where to?"

"South. To Forest Haven."

"Forest Haven huh? Sounds nice."

"I only hope that is still true."

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Notes From The Author

If this chapter seems choppy, I apologize. I wrote it in bits and pieces over a relatively long period of time. I've been busy with school and my doujinshi. Oh! I finished my doujinshi! It's called "Colossal Confrontation" and it's on Deviantart. My username is BatNeko. My username is ALWAYS BatNeko.

I'm sorry this took so long to finish. There's been some...issues, and I don't like getting on the computer at home much anymore. Unfortunately, that's where all my writing is. I'll try to get the next chapter done soon as I can, but I might just gloss over most of the dungeon. Do you care?

Erm, anyways...yeah. Hugs all around.


	8. Green Thumb

Chapter 8. Green Thumb

It was getting dark when we reached Forest Haven, but I'd rested well the night before so I decided to head in there anyway. As we got close, King slowed down and spoke.

"It may appear as though this is but a great tree rising far above the ocean's surface, but it is a sacred place." King said. "It is inside this grotto that you will find the spirit of the earth, the Great Deku Tree. You must speak with the Deku Tree and receive from him the sacred gem known as Farore's Pearl. I fear that Ganon's vile hand may have already reached this most sacred of sanctuaries. Go forth with caution, Link."

"I will."

The island was strangely pretty in the fading light. The tall grass swishing in the breeze and the sounds of running water served to mask any sounds of approaching danger. Of course, the danger that I found couldn't move much.

How was I supposed to expect a big purple flower to pop up out of the grass and try to bite my leg off? Huh?

There were several of those killer flowers one the island, and I quickly found that the best way to deal with them was to clonk them with the grappling hook, then rush in and behead them while they were stunned. They were plants, so I figured they'd grow back.

The path up and around the island didn't go very far. There was a small stream leading from somewhere inside the massive stone column that took up most of the island. Normally I would have waded or swam through it, but the current was surprisingly strong, and I didn't want to risk it. Instead I used the grappling hook to swing to the rocks and little islands spaced throughout it.

The octorocks spitting rocks at me made the going difficult, but they ran away when I got close. Still, my knees were pretty sore when I finally got to the cave entrance. The water was still and clear, more clear than I'd ever seen water before. I was tempted to drink some of it, but there had been an octorock there only moments before.

The inside of the island was not technically a cave, since it was open to the sky, but the rock walls went up so high that you could barely tell. It was _very _pretty. Trees and grass and flowers and fireflies. It even _smelled _pretty.

The biggest tree was a ways away from the entrance, and I couldn't explain why, but when I saw it I thought "It's facing away from me." Trees don't have faces, so they can't face anywhere, right?

Wrong.

This tree had a face, a big one, and it was covered in chuchus. I had (and still have) no idea what being covered in chuchus would do to a tree, but I doubted it would be anything good. And since King had told me to talk to the Great Deku _Tree_, I decided to help.

I drew my sword and charged, but the goopy things were too high for me to reach. I knew better than to jump up and down to try and get them, so I rammed my shoulder into the tree as hard as I could.

Success! It knocked them all down!

Oh no! Now they were after me!

Chuchus are annoying as hell because they can disappear into little puddles and hide. Then the next thing you know, one of them is running into you from behind. Luckily there were none of the zappy ones there, and I managed to get rid of them with minimal bruising.

Now that the tree was free of evil glob monsters, I was able to see it more clearly. The face on it was huge, masculine, and rather unattractive, but not in a scary way. It looked friendly.

There was a giant lily pad right in front of the tree's face, and it seemed like as good a place as any to try to get his attention. I climbed up onto it, and as soon as I did it shook and rose up closer to the face. The Great Deku Tree, 'cause that's what he had to be, looked at me and said something that I didn't understand at all.

"Um, huh?"

The Deku Tree said something else that I didn't understand. It sounded like the same language Valoo had been speaking.

"What?" I said.

"I must apologize," the Deku Tree said, finally talking normally. "I was in error. I saw your clothing and suddenly I felt a longing for an age gone by. That longing caused the ancient tongue to pass my lips."

"It's okay."

"I am the guardian spirit of this Forest Haven, the Deku Tree. I owe you my thanks for your aid in ridding me of those foul creatures. Tell me, was it not the King of Red Lions, the boat who speaks, who led you to this place?"

"Yeah! You know him?"

"Indeed I do. Then you have come here because you have need of the pearl of the goddess?"

"Yes please. Um, sir."

"I see... I knew there was a reason the monsters had begun to congregate in the regions around my wood. Now I understand it. He has returned... Ganon has returned..."

I nodded.

"In that case, we must make haste." He looked around and spoke to the air. "Koroks! Little children of the woods! This traveler is not your enemy. Let your hearts be at ease, and show yourselves!"

I looked around to see who he was talking to, but could see nothing but green. And then, the green moved.

Up above me, on a cliff that ran around the entire cavern, little brown plant-like creatures with leaves for faces were appearing. Each raised another leaf above its head and leapt off the cliff, flying down with their non-face leaves spinning like propellers.

"What do you call yourself?" the Deku Tree asked.

"Um, Link," I said, still distracted by the strange little plant-people.

"Link? Well, then, Link... These are the Koroks, the spirits of the forest. Once upon a time, long ago, the Koroks took on human forms, but when they came to live on the sea, they took these shapes. Now they fear people, but to me they will ever be my cherished little children."

"Nice to meet you guys," I said.

"As it happens, you have come just in time for a ceremony that the Koroks hold but once every year. It is about to begin. I shall grant the pearl to you once their ceremony is complete. I must apologize for the brief delay, but if the ceremony is not completed soon, an ill fate could befall us."

"Hey, no big deal."

"So, let it begin! Are you ready, my children?"

"No!" a squeaky little voice exclaimed. I looked up and saw another of the plant-people flying down toward us. It was hard to read the leaf-faces, but he seemed agitated. "W-We are not, Oh Great Deku Tree! Something terrible has happened! It is Makar! Makar!"

"What is the matter, Linder?" the Deku Tree asked as the one called Linder hovered near his face. "You and Makar are always late..."

"N-No! It is not that, Oh Great Deku Tree! Makar... fell into the Forbidden Woods!"

"_What_!" The Deku Tree's expressions were much easier to read, and he was definitely upset. "The Forbidden Woods?"

"I told him to be careful!" Linder exclaimed. "But still Makar flew above the Forbidden Woods, and as he drew close to it..."

"Foolish little Makar..." the Deku Tree sighed. "Link, you have heard all this?"

"Yeah. This is bad, huh?"

"The Forbidden Woods are right beside the hollowed island of our Forest Haven. Those woods... The whole region is a vile place that is home to evil beasts. And now it seems they have taken a child of the forest named Makar."

He looked at me hard for a moment. "Your presence here is no mistake, I deem. The King of Red Lions likely expects great deeds of you, it is why he brought you here. I am sorry to ask this of you, but can you go rescue young Makar for me?"

Linder interrupted. "But, Great Deku Tree! People cannot fly through the air..."

"Ah, yes... Thank you, child. You are right. It is not possible to enter those woods from the sea, is it.?" He looked me over again. "Link, I would guess from your size that you are heavier than my Korok children, yet I think we may still be able to solve this dilemma. You must use the item I shall bestow upon you and fly through the sky!"

"Cool!"

The Great Deku Tree shook, from root to crown, opened his mouth wide and roared. Up high in the branches I saw something shake free, and stick on a branch. It shone.

"Forgive me, Link," the Deku Tree said, sounding a bit worn, "but could you climb up to my crown and get the leaf from up there?"

"Um, I guess. But...how?"

The Deku Tree didn't answer. He looked like he might be asleep. The giant lily pad lowered me back down to ground level, and I found myself surrounded by those little plant guys, the Koroks.

"We can help," one said. "There's a way to get up into the Great Deku Tree's crown. But it's tricky if you're new at it."

"Well, I can try. What is it?"

"This way."

I followed the little guy off the lily pad and to another part of the mini-forest. He waddled over to a bulbous purple flower, and poked at it with a wooden arm.

"This is a Baba bud," he said. "You hop in one, and it spits you up way way high in the air."

I stared at the seemingly innocuous flower. "Say that again?"

"You hop in it, and it spits you out up high."

"It _what_?"

The Korok sighed. "Watch me."

He approached the flower, eyed it for a moment, then literally hopped inside the petals. The flower twitched and bulged for a moment, then the little Korok was shot straight up into the air, turned a somersault, and landed perfectly on the ground.

"It takes practice to do it like that," he said, sounding smug, "but I'm sure you won't get _too _hurt trying."

"Thanks, now I'm _really _looking forward to this." I poked at the flower with my toe.

"Now, you want to aim for that other flower over there."

"Where?"

"Up there."

I looked up. "There's like a dozen of those things!"

"Yeah. You're gonna need to go from bud to bud, and probably stop on that branch, and go to more buds, until you get to the crown."

I stared at the flowers. "This is crazy."

"But you're going to do it anyway, aren't you?"

I looked back down at him. "Yeah... I am."

Each flower was higher than the other, and it would take careful aiming to make sure I didn't fall on my head and die. It would be fast, that was clear, there would be little time to make adjustments in mid-air. I took a dep breath, parted the petals of the flower with the toe of my boot, and stepped inside.

It was not quite like being eaten. The flower smelled nice, for one thing, and the petals didn't seem very sturdy. I could probably rip my way out of the thing if I had to.

I felt the petals moving around me, and the ground, or whatever I was standing on, shook. It jerked back, and then I was shot up high, high, into the air.

It was hard not to scream, but somehow I managed. I'd been hurled through the air once before, and I didn't like it. Luckily, before I could run out of breath, I was swallowed up by another flower. I had time to inhale, then I was spat back up into the air. Another scream, and other flower, another gasp, and then I landed on something leafy and solid.

I pushed myself upright and forced my breathing back to normal. "That. Was. Nuts!"

"Fun, huh?" a nearby Korok said.

"No!"

"You'll get used to it." He offered me a branch-like arm and pulled me to my feet. "Now you've got to get over to that bud over there."

I looked at it. "All the way over there? How?"

"Umm... I don't know."

I stood as near to the end of the branch as I cared to and examined the bud. It was quite a leap. If I had a good running start...I would fall to my death. I sighed and looked up at where the magic leaf waited.

Something caught my eye. Another branch, smaller than most of the Deku Tree's branches, but sturdy. And I had a grappling hook...

I took as much time as I could lining up the swing and making sure I wasn't going to fall to my death. It was _way _too early in the game for me to be dying. I landed, thump, in the flower, and went on another wild ride that lasted _far _too long.

I landed hard on another branch, and grabbed hold as it shook beneath me. When I looked up I saw the leaf, sparkling and spinning, in front of me. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed it, irrationally afraid I was going to fall and have to do all that over again.

The leaf was huge, nearly as tall as I was, and the bright green of a young leaf. It was sturdy too, the stem almost like a branch, but still bendy. And then I remembered what this leaf was supposed to help me do.

"Swordsman! Over here!" One of the Koroks was calling me from a cave opening in the wall. It looked like the one who had come in all panicked earlier. Linder. "Fly over here!"

I looked at the leaf. I looked over at Linder. "You're kidding!"

"Hold it in both hands and jump!"

"No!"

"Just try it! And don't let go!"

"Believe me, I won't," I muttered. I took a breath, gripped the leaf firmly in both hands and jumped.

It was actually a lot less scary than getting spat from flowers. Sure, my feet were dangling over open air, but I trusted the leaf. As long as I didn't let go...

Gently, gently, I drifted to the cliff at the cave mouth. Linder laughed and jumped around when I landed.

"You see? Was that so hard?"

"After all the crazy stuff I've done that last few days? Nah."

"Crazy stuff?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Now where's this Forbidden place?"

"Through here," the little guy led me into the cave, and through to the other side.

It was late night outside, but the moon was waxing and there were plenty of stars. The Forbidden Forest was a dark spiky blotch against the sky, and there were two more less-spiky blotches off to the left.

"I'm not sure you can make it all the way across to Forbidden Forest," Linder said, scanning the islands. "But if you go to that little island over there and catch an updraft...and avoid the peahats..."

"Peahats?"

"They're not nice, but they're not smart. It shouldn't be a problem."

"Shouldn't?"

"Shouldn't."

"Lovely." I looked out at the spiky island. "You know, I complain a lot about this stuff, but I always do it."

And with that, I jumped off the cliff.

The leaf carried my to the little island without any trouble, but the Forbidden Forest was farther away, and the entrance was really high. There was another Korok on the little island, who recommended that I try to hook an updraft.

Easier said than done. The updrafts moved fast, and were almost invisible. I figured the best thing to do would be to jump off the island just _before _the updraft swung around, and hope it worked.

I muttered a quick prayer, squeezed the leaf, and jumped. The wind swept me up as fast as the flowers had spit me, and I flew across the sea higher than I'd ever been. Ever.

Then the peahats showed up and killed my buzz. Giant helicopter-shark-ducks. I kicked at them, but it threw off my aim. The Forbidden Forest was looming up close now, and the landing spot was much smaller than I liked. I tried to fight with as little movement as possible, but the peahats were single-minded. Finally, I just gave up and let them bump into me. They were hurting me, but I squeezed the leaf harder and tried to ignore it.

Now the ground was rushing up and the peahats backing off. I rolled when I landed, grateful for the long grass. The spikiness I'd noticed earlier turned out to be gigantic thorned vines that were growing from the entire island. Kind of neat, but very ominous.

The entrance to the forest was dark and broody, but the inside was oddly bright. In fact, it didn't look much different from the Forest Haven. I mean, there were more different kinds of plants, and fewer fireflies, but it still had that green foresty look to it. With spikes.

Of course, I soon found out that the Forbidden Forest was forbidden for a reason. All the plants there seemed to hate me. The doors had vines keeping them closed, everything was carnivorous, and there were chuchus and mothulas and peahats _everywhere_! And those vines seemed to be a theme.

It reminded me of Dragon Roost. Which meant that, most likely, Ganon had been here.

I managed to get myself horribly lost more than once. It didn't help that most of the forest looked alike to me. Plus there was poisonous water. I don't like poisonous water.

At least I found something neat along the way. A boomerang, which was surprisingly easy to use. It came in handy beating down all the vines.

It felt like hours before I stumbled into a huge cavern almost completely devoid of plant life. The only thing not stone was a giant vibrant flower in the middle of the floor, with some vines around it.

See? Theme.

I pulled my sword out and moved closer, and as I did I noticed something that didn't match. Brown. A little spot of brown. Topped with green. And...moving?

The little thing perked up when I got close enough, and I saw that it was a Korok. "Makar?" I called.

"Yes!" the little guy exclaimed. "Swordsman! You must get back! You must-"

And then the flower ate him.

Seriously, a little pastel-colored Venus flytrap mouth popped up out of the center and _ate _him.

"Makar!" I shouted, running forward. The flower shot up vines into the ceiling and lifted itself up off the ground and into the air. It was too high for me to hope to reach with my sword, or even the grappling hook, so I pulled out my new boomerang.

The only thing I could think of to do was cut the vines and get the thing back down within range. The boomerang served that purpose nicely...until the bigger thicker blade-ended vines came down from the bottom and tried to cut me to ribbons.

I ran and rolled out of the way behind an outcropping of the wall. The slashy bladey things got around it, but I hid behind my shield and curled up as small as I could. I was scared. Really scared. I'd expected danger, monsters, spikes, but not this insane slicing that went on for _far _longer than it should have.

When the flower finally lost interest I peeked around my shield to see, to my dismay, the thin vines holding the flower to the ceiling reattaching themselves. They grew back! They freakin' grew back!

There was nothing for it but to go back to work with the boomerang. And I would _not _by put off by potential death this time! That little root baby needed me!

The bladed vines came after me as soon as I released the boomerang, but I ran right under them and caught the boomerang before it hit the ground. The skinny vines holding up the flower were easy to slice, but there were so _many _of them. And they kept growing back!

But my boomerang and I kept at it; running like hell when necessary, cutting vines when possible. When the flower was only supported by half a dozen vines on one side, it started to list dangerously. I got out from under it and had just enough time to duck behind that rock again before it crashed to the ground.

The little Venus flytrap head popped up out of the center of the flower and snapped around listlessly. I stuffed the boomerang in my belt, drew my sword, and charged.

Now, normally this is a bad idea. You don't just charge wildy at an enemy, especially not one so much bigger than you. But this was a _flower_, for crying out loud! A flower who had been beating the crap out of me, yes, but I stand by my assessment.

I jumped onto one of the huge petals of the flower and tried to ignore the way it squeaked under my boots. The Venus flytrap head tried to bite me, but I slashed at the thin stalk holding it up. The thing was surprisingly strong, and it squirmed and dodged pretty well for something fastened to the ground.

The flower started moving and I saw those skinny vines start to wriggle up toward the ceiling again. I was _not _going to get eaten by _another _flower.

So I swung my sword as hard as I could, and beheaded the Venus flytrap.

The flower twitched and shuddered for a moment, then wilted suddenly. The petals, the vines, all the plant matter, just broke down on itself and turned to mulch.

I squelched my way through it until I found a lump bigger than the others. I bent down and brushed the mulch off, and there was Makar.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi," Makar said.

I helped him to his stubby little feet and dusted the rest of the dirt off him. "Did you do this?" He asked.

"Yup."

"Thank you so much! When Kalle Demos got me I thought I was a goner for sure!"

"Kalle Demos?"

"The evil flower!"

"It had a name?"

"It is what drove us Koroks from here. This used to be our home, you know."

"I think someone mentioned that, yeah."

Makar looked me over. "What are you doing here anyway? I mean, um, I glad you _were _here, but..."

"I know what you mean." I smiled. "The Great Deku Tree sent me."

"The Great Deku Tree? But then... Oh no!" He sounded so horrified that I thought he might scream. "Today's the ceremony! Oh I'm in so much trouble! I shouldn't be here! I've got to get out of here!"

"Okay, okay, calm down little dude. We'll get back. Last time I killed something this big there was a... There!" Near the center of the pile of mulch, where the Venus flytrap head had been, was a swirl of blue light.

"Come on!" I grabbed Makar's stubby hand and pulled him over to the light.

"But what is this?"

"It's a portal. Thingie. I think. Just follow me, okay?"

I let go of his hand and stepped into the light. I wasn't sure if he would follow, but it was too late to push him in first.

The portal thingie deposited me back in Forest Haven, and a couple seconds later it deposited Makar beside me.

"Makar!" The great Deku Tree exclaimed. "You have returned safely, thank the gods."

"I'm sorry, Great Deku Tree," Makar said, wilting. "I know you warned us many times, but still I did not listen..."

"Do not worry, Makar. You are safe now. Just be more careful from now on." He turned to me. "You have done well, Link. I must thank you for your brave deeds. Here is that which I have promised you. Please accept it."

He shook his branches and something small and bright green fell out and toward me. I ran forward to catch it, but I needn't have worried. The object, Farore's Pearl, stopped a couple feet from the ground and floated there, glowing.

"Woah..."

"It is my hope that this pearl shall lead you to a fair destiny!"

Makar was sniffling quietly behind me. I turned to try and comfort him, but the Deku Tree beat me to it.

"All is well, Makar. Do not cry. Please... Play your songs for me as you always do."

"Oh! Right! The ceremony! We have to hurry! I'm sorry I kept everyone waiting.. And, Great Link."

Great Link?

"As my thanks to you, I shall play even harder than I normally do... I hope you enjoy it!"

Makar rushed off and returned seconds later with a violin. He was so small that he couldn't hold it like normal so it looked more like a cello. He started to play, a light playful tune, and all the other little Koroks popped up and began to sing.

There were no words. It was a song of growing, of life, of green things. It made me want to dance, but it wasn't my ceremony.

The Great Deku Tree raised his voice above the Koroks, and suddenly seeds burst from his branches.

The Koroks took to the air and grabbed a seed each.

"Great Deku Tree! This year, you have once again produced some splendid seeds."

"With these seeds, we will continue to spread new forests across the Great Sea."

"Let us go, Koroks! To the sea!"

"See you all next year!"

"Take care!"

"Farewell, great swordsman! May the winds of chance bring us together again someday!"

I waved at the Koroks at the disappeared into the sky, until only a couple of Koroks were left. Makar and one I didn't know.

"Thank you again, Link," the Great Deku Tree said. "Give the King of Red Lions my regards."

"I will. Thanks for the pearl!"

"It was my pleasure. I believe you will do great things."

"Wow. Thanks." I felt a tug on my tunic, and turned to see Makar.

"I owe you my life," he said. "I don't know how I can ever repay you."

I shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Helping people seems to be my thing lately."

"Still, if you _ever _need _anything_..."

"Really, don't worry about it." I looked at the big glowing pearl. "I should get going. King'll be worried. Bye everybody!"

"Bye!" Makar and the other Korok said.

Getting back down the island was a lot easier than getting up had been. The current of the little river carried me almost all the way down.

I started giving King the full report before I even climbed in. He listened quietly as I ranted about vines and thorns and crazy grabby fuzzy black things. When I mentioned Kalle Demos he made a noise of surprise, but said nothing.

"So," he said when I'd finished, "this place, too, has been attacked by Ganon. Could he already be regaining his power? Link, you must get the remaining pearl! It lies in a place northwest of here. We must set sail immediately!"

"Right!"

I changed the wind, and off we went.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Okay, that took along time, but it was a long chapter! I'm still trying to veer away from the game scripts, and I think I made a little progress! With Makar anyway.

I can't remember if there's anything I want to say about this chapter, except that it was _really_ long. You guys let me know if you want more long chapters, or if you want shorter chapters and quicker updates.


	9. Senseless Destruction

Chapter 9. Senseless Destruction, Present and Future

"What time is it?" I asked.

"A little before midnight, I believe," King replied.

"Huh, I wasn't gone as long as I thought. So where're we goin' anyway?"

"Greatfish Island. We are close already."

I felt a drop on my face. This was not unusual, being that we were at sea and all, but then I felt another. And another. Soon it was pouring down rain.

"Where did this come from?"

"Oh... No..."

"King?"

Then I saw it. Greatfish Island. From King's reaction I could only assume that the island had _not _always looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. And then chucked the pieces around. And made it rain.

"Wh- what is the meaning of this?" King asked, sounding as broken as the island. "The island... It is... We are too late. I knew we had precious little time, but I never suspected how little..."

"King?"

"A great water spirit named Jabun once lived here, but no sign of him remains..."

"I'm gonna get out and look around."

"Be careful." His voice was wooden.

Exploring revealed a lot more evidence that the appearance of the island was not natural. Rain was falling on dirt and rock that had never seen rain before. Not only that, but the whole island just felt...broken, sad, abused. Not the way islands are supposed to feel.

I'd never noticed before, that places could have feelings to them, but I probably should have. This place felt violated.

There was no sign of anything alive, so I headed back to the beach. King's head was almost in the water, it was sunk so low. I was dripping water now, and feeling pretty low myself.

"King?"

"If Ganon has been here, than I fear for Jabun..."

"King..."

"Ho there! Link!"A voice came from the sky.

I looked up and saw Quill, flapping awkwardly in the rain. "Quill!"

He landed on the beach not far from me and wiped the water from his eyes. "So, you're here! I've been looking for you! Are you looking for the great spirit, Jabun?"

"Yeah! Do you know where he is?"

"Not here, that's for sure. Just look at how this place has been torn to pieces... I suppose this, too, is the work of the shadow in Forsaken Fortress." He noticed the look on my face. "But don't worry! Jabun got away before the island was attacked. He is somewhere safe now. Would you like to guess where that is?" he asked, grinning.

"Um...no. Just tell me."

"On the island where you were born. On Outset."

"On... _What_? Really? Outset? But...but... What the hell's on Outset?"

"Jabun, now. But even if you go to Outset, you won't be able to see him."

"Huh? Why not?"

"He is hiding in a cave at the back of the island, and the entrance is blocked by a massive stone slab. I doubt even the pirates with their mighty ship could get in..." He stopped suddenly, and ruffled the feathers on the back of his head. "I...I'm sorry, Link. I thought if anyone would know where you were, it would be the pirates. I told them about this without so much as a thought for the consequences. I don't know why, exactly, but they immediately set sail for Outset Island and tried to break into the cave. They didn't get in! I don't think they did any damage at all... I heard they were last spotted on Windfall Island, but I don't know what they were doing. If you wish to see Jabun, I think you'd better go to Windfall."

"Sound good King?" I asked.

He nodded.

Quill scanned the island. "What an eerie isle this is... Everywhere else boasts clear skies and calm seas, but this place suffers under dark clouds and rain. Valoo must have been right when he asked me to bring word of Jabun to you... He called this island cursed... I would counsel against staying here longer than you have to. But that's up to you. I've told you of Jabun, so my task is complete. Good luck, Link."

King sighed with relief as Quill flew off. "So Jabun has survived. I feared for a moment that... But it is no matter. The sea spirit has lived through the trials of many long years, he must have caught wind of Ganon's attack beforehand."

"So, off to Windfall then?"

"Yes."

The rain stopped as soon as we were out of sight of Greatfish, but the sky was full of clouds. I'm not sure how long it took to Windfall, but it must have been after one in the morning. Sure enough, the pirate ship was there, moored around at the side of the island farthest from the city. I found myself wondering what the ship's name was, or if it even had one.

Obviously, I needed sleep.

"It is just as the postman told us," King said. "The pirate ship must have stopped here to avoid drawing the attention of the townsfolk. I know not what they are researching, but if they are hoping to get their hands on Jabun's sacred gem I doubt they would tell you anything directly if you were to ask them. Link, I think it would be best if you attempted to find out what the pirates were up to, without them finding out about you."

"Mrrgh..."

"Link?"

"No, no, you're right. I don't like the idea of spying on friends though..."

"Friends? They are pirates, Link. They cannot be trusted."

"Not with treasure or stuff, but I think I'd trust them with my life."

"I only hope you are right."

In order to find out where the pirates were, I had to think like a pirate. Or at least, that's what I wanted to do. In reality, I heard voices coming from the bomb shop and realized, oh _duh_, bombs.

In playing hide and seek with those crazy bee kids, I had found a path that led behind the bomb shop. I had to press against the wall to get back there, but it was worth it. There were some thick vines growing up the wall, and a small window above that. I squeezed through easily enough, and found myself on a kind of wooden shelf loft thing above the shop. I dropped to my stomach and crawled forward until I could peer over the edge.

Gonzo was tying up the bomb shop owner with far more rope than he needed to. "Look, don't be mad at us," he said, sounding for all the world as though he meant it. "It's not _our _fault that we absolutely gotta have bombs to get the treasure we're after! How about you just think of it as payback for the nasty little monopoly you've been running here, yeah?"

Mako, the pirate with the glasses and the big thick book, checked Gonzo's knots. "So, I bet you're thinking it was foolhardy to ask pirates to pay such an outrageous price, huh? Yup. I bet you are." He nodded and stepped back, approving the job. "You know, Gonzo," he said. "I still can't get over that bit of fast talking you pulled to get that information out of the postman."

Gonzo blinked. "Huh? Oh! Oh, yeah! That was smooth. I tell you, the minute I set my eyes on that Link, I just knew he was hiding something back at Outset, yeah? So when I saw that postman, I just pretended like I was all worried about the kid and stuff... And presto! He spills the beans."

I was choking up on the loft. This guy was a _terrible _actor! It was sweet that he had been worried about me, but was anyone actually falling for this?

"Good work, Gonzo! Really! Just top notch! It's funny though, I'm thinking this is maybe the first time you've shown such wit..."

Apparently glasses do not make one smart.

"Such cunning..." Mako said thoughtfully. "You know with your cunning and Miss Tetra's smarts... If you two got married and had a kid, that kid would be the greatest pirate to ever sail the seas! Yup, the greatest!"

I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from growling. The idea of Tetra and that meat-mountain was just offensive! Tetra was too young for him, for starters, and she deserved someone with something actually approaching a _brain_.

Gonzo was blushing. The bastard was actually _blushing_.

"You idiot," he said. "Keep your mouth shut, yeah? Don't be so stupid! Miss Tetra," he turned to look at the back corner of the room, near where I hid. "Are you listening to this nitwit? Can't you dock him some pay or something?"

"Quit goofing off, both of you," I heard Tetra say. She was beneath me! She was right beneath me! "Keep your childish jokes to yourselves and get those bombs back to the ship. The second you're done loading them up, we're setting sail for Outset."

"_What_?" Gonzo exclaimed. "Miss! We have to leave immediately? But it's been so long since we were on shore! We need to fill our bellies with some good eating, yeah? How about we grub tonight and shove off tomorrow morning instead?" He trailed off. I could imagine Tetra giving him a Look. "I mean... Uh, I- I'm fine either way, of course! Whatever you say is fine, Miss, is what I mean to say! It's just... the boys were so excited to come to town, yeah? And I can't help but think it would be awful hard on them to leave so soon without a proper layover. So, what say we sail tomorrow, yeah? What do you say, Miss? That treasure isn't going anywhere! You're with me, right, boys?" He turned to the others. "Who's for a night of fun?"

The other pirates were smart enough to keep their mouths shut.

"You're all fools, do you know that?" Tetra said, sounding _really _annoyed now. "You saw that demolished island! You saw the senseless destruction. We have to hurry on to Outset, or the same thing could happen there!"

"Huh?" Mako blinked at her. "Not to be disrespectful, but by the sound of things, you're more worried about that island than the treasure, Miss."

"Don't be ridiculous," Tetra exclaimed, a little too quickly in my opinion. "I want, you know... the treasure..."

And then she turned her head, back and up, and her eyes started to slide up in my direction. I scooted back, as fast as I could, but she saw me. I knew it.

I could _feel _her wink. Feel it in the icy tingle start started in the pit of my stomach and flooded through the rest of my body, sinking deep into the marrow of my bones. Tetra had winked. At me. And I had no idea what that meant.

"All right, fine," Tetra said, her voice was much lighter. "Have it your way! We can leave tomorrow, you big babies. But we're setting sail at first light, so no sleeping in! Understood?"

"Aye-aye!" the pirates chorused.

They all started filing out of the room, carrying big boxes that I assumed were full of bombs, Tetra leading the way. Mako and Gonzo were the last ones out.

"What was today's password, again?"

"Are you kidding? You forgot already? You're so useless. Today's password is chummily, yeah? Remember? You know that Niko won't let you in if you don't say it exactly right!"

"All right, all right, chummily."

They vanished out the door, and it was just me and the tied-up shopkeeper. It was _extremely _tempting to hop down there and mock him, but I held back. I wiggled back through the hole and peered over the cliff at the pirate ship.

I watched the last of the pirates climb off the ship and head for town, then scrambled down there myself. Chummily. What the hell kind of password is chummily?

I'd seen the pirates coming from below decks, so I figured that was where they'd put the bombs. The door down there was locked, and when I knocked I heard Niko's voice shout some lame joke up at me. I gave the password, and he came up to open the door.

"Link!" he exclaimed. "You're _alive_?"

I checked. "Yes."

"Everybody said you got done in by that bird monster at the Forsaken Fortress! I thought you... I mean, never mind what I thought!"

I couldn't help but grin, he seemed genuinely happy to see me. "Sorry I made you worry...sir."

"I, uh. Oh, I get it now!" he immediately switched into boss-mode. "You came back because you missed me so much. I had no idea you wanted to be my swabbie so badly!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's it."

"Well you know, after you left, I went back to being the bottom rung on the ladder...which is why I'm stuck here while everyone else is in town having fun and eating and stuff... But...I guess being so worshiped by my swabbie ought to cheer me up!"

He looked at me, and I looked at him, and we both knew how pathetic he was being, but neither of us said anything.

He coughed uncomfortably. "All right! Why don't we set you to your next test, huh?"

"Sure, let's do that."

He led me back down to the hold, where the last "test" had been. There were fewer ropes this time, and I couldn't see the weird flats.

Niko rambled on for a bit about how the test would be harder this time because there were no platforms and I'd have to just jump from rope to rope, but I wasn't worried. I didn't even listen to half of his rant.

"If you get all the way to this side before time runs out, I'll give you the bombs we got in town!"

I perked up. "The bombs?"

"Yeah, you heard me! Give it your best shot, swabbie!"

He scrambled across to the other side of the room, and through the door before the gate slammed shut. Immediately I hopped on the switch and took off swinging.

There were only a couple of moments where I had to slow down and think about what I was doing, for the most part it was all instinctual. No problem.

Niko acted surprised when I made it to the end long before the timer stopped, but he probably expected it. I'd done it last time, after all. He grumbled a bit about me being better than him, then led me to a box in the back of the room.

"Go on, take 'em. Just don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Why Niko, could it be that these bombs are not yours to give away?"

"Do you want them or not?"

"Yes please."

"Then take them and _go."_

"Niko..."

He paused at the doorway. "You're...the greatest swabbie ever."

I smiled. "Thanks.Sir."

He grunted and left.

The box was full of bombs, but they were pretty big so it didn't look like there were many in there. I lifted it experimentally. Not too bad.

"That's mighty courageous of you, trying to steal treasure from pirates."

I yelped and jumped, then yanked the pirate's charm out of my collar. I had forgotten about that thing.

"I suppose I should be shocked" Tetra's voice said. "But I'm more amazed that you managed to survive after being tossed out of that tower."

"Yeah, well, apparently I'm hard to kill."

"I have to guess you haven't saved your sister yet, huh?"

"Umm..."

"You don't give things much thought, do you?"

"Hey now!"

"You just rush in, never thinking how badly things could go for you. Like just now. The only reason you got what you did was because we left a simple-minded little rat like Niko behind to look after things. No one else would have parted with our treasure so easily, I assure you. And just how do you intend to use those bombs, anyway? Don't tell me you're going after Jabun's treasure, too."

"I'm not- I mean- Not exactly..."

"Right now, Jabun is hiding in a cave at the back of that little island of yours. But the entrance is blocked by a giant stone doorway. You can't get in without breaking down the door."

"Hence the bombs?"

"Hence the bombs."

"So what about you?"

"We're going to relax in town and eat our fill of whatever this town has to offer, but we'll be leaving for Outset first thing in the morning. If you manage to find Jabun tonight, then I guess you win. But if you take too long, we'll come sailing right by you tomorrow morning. And believe me, you didn't get _all _of our bombs. You'd better be quick, kid!"

"You know, you're not as cool as you think you are."

"Aww, you say the sweetest things."

As soon as the charm stopped vibrating I stuffed it back down my shirt and hefted the box of bombs. I'd show her! I'd get to Outset _hours _before she did!

Of course... Outset was a long ways away, and the pirate ship was a lot faster than _The King of Red Lions_. Tetra didn't know how fast or slow my ship was, so she was taking an actual risk here. She had seemed more worried about the island than the treasure, and then there was that wink...

Was it possible, could it be, that Tetra was a good person?

Hmm...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Notes From the Author

I think this might be a little choppy. And it felt a lot longer when I was writing it... Mrrgh, oh well. Next chapter will be equally short, but hopefully up a lot faster.

I had a bad day, not that any of you want to hear about it. I need a hug. T-T


	10. Endless Night

Chapter 10. Endless Night

It was dark, cold, and unpleasant. I had expected as much, but it was still annoying. And now I had to get all the way to Outset in one night? Not likely.

But there wasn't a lot I could do about it, so I just kept sailing on. The moon seemed stuck in the sky, where I could see it through the clouds. I had no idea how much time had passed before I broke the silence.

"Hey King, do you really think we can make it?"

"You are asking a talking boat if the impossible is possible?"

I laughed. "Good point. Thanks man."

On we went. There were quite a few creatures that decided to follow us and try to kill me, but I only got knocked out of the boat once. Not fun, for the record.

As we kept going, I started to wonder. Something seemed wrong. We'd been sailing for a long time. A _really _long time. Longer than we should have been. Even without a watch, or the moon moving, I could tell.

"King..."

"I have noticed as well. Morning has not broken since we arrived at Greatfish Isle. It is as if time itself is frozen."

"But why?"

"Perhaps this is the curse that Valoo spoke of?"

"Eternal night? That's kind of a sucky curse."

"Whatever the reason, if this night does not end, then we need not worry about the pirates overtaking us."

"So...we win?"

"We win."

"Whoo!"

I was so cheered by this fact that I forgot to pay attention to where we were sailing. There was a barrel floating out in the water, randomly, and I had to swerve quickly to avoid it.

"Where did that come from?" I exclaimed.

"From that, I am assuming."

I looked where he was looking and saw a floating wooden platform, with a little shack in the middle. "What kind of boat is that?"

"It is a submarine."

"Really? Cool! I've never seen one before! You think they'd let me look around?"

"Unlikely. I believe that particular submarine is under the control of the pirates that once inhabited the Forsaken Fortress."

"Meh, I get along good with pirates. Besides, Tetra said these guys were small-time."

"These are not the pirates you got along with. I do not think this is the best idea."

"I'll be fine! I've got all night!"

"Link, you are rushing in without thinking. You should not-"

I ignored him and dived into the water. King didn't seem to grasp the awesomeness of being trapped in time. No matter _what _I did, I still won! I would have loved to see Tetra's face if she knew that.

Actually, I kind of just wanted to see Tetra's face.

What was wrong with me?

The submarine looked sort of junky up close. Judging from the green slime on the sides, it had been floating there for days.

I rapped on the door, not really expecting an answer. "Hellooooo! Anybody home?"

Sure enough, silence. The door was stuck shut, probably warped, but it popped open with a couple of good kicks.

It was dark and damp-smelling inside. The lamps were still burning, and the walls were badly smoke-stained. Even though the place looked uninhabited (uninhabitable, actually) it didn't _feel _empty. There was something alive in here...somewhere.

I headed down the ladder into the open area. For a submarine, this place didn't have much in it. I always figured a submarine would be all, like, cramped. With the beds and the other essentials being in such close quarters. But there was nothing but empty space and lanterns in here.

There was a door across the room, which hopefully had something more interesting beyond it, but before I got halfway there something creaked behind me and I whirled around.

Half a dozen Bokoblins had appeared out of nowhere, and were moving toward me menacingly. Though...pretty much everything those guys did was menacing. I drew my sword and went to battle.

I was really getting the hang of this whole "defeating-monsters-that-have-me-hopelessly-outnumbered" thing. The key was to run around all crazy-like avoiding most of them and taking them out one at a time. Okay, so it wasn't graceful, but it kept me alive.

More Bokoblins kept coming out of the woodwork, literally it seemed like. I had no idea why there were all there, but they wanted to kill me. Things _always _want to kill me.

Battle seems exciting when it's happening, but afterward it's kind of hard to explain. It's all very fast, and confused, and you can't hear anything above your own breathing. It can be exhilarating, but the fear of death usually quashes any good feelings.

When the last Bokoblin exploded into smoke, I sheathed my sword and slumped against the closest wall to catch my breath. Whatever was in that room had better be worth it.

It wasn't. Just some supplies, food, fresh water, sacking. I did find a nice empty bottle though. It even looked clean! I took what I could carry, including the bottle, and stuck it all in a barrel to push over to King.

"I see you found something."

"Yeah, well..."

"You are bleeding."

I winced. "I know. I got salt water in it."

"Link..."

"I know, I know, you told me so. Let's just go."

It took what felt like a couple more hours to get to Outset, but could have been more, or less, for all I know.

"Look, we are getting close."

I peered around King's head. "Yeah...wow. It feels like months since I've been home."

"You know, with time frozen the way it is, we do not need to rush."

"So?"

"So you may take your time, visiting your home."

"You...you sure?"

"It might not be a bad idea, after such a long time away. We can speak with Jabun afterward."

"Thanks King..."

Outset looked like it was just as I'd left it. It was night, so everyone was indoors, but the buildings were all where they belonged and the waves were lapping the shore with their usual passive rhythm.

I told King to wait for me at the dock, despite the fact that I knew he wouldn't go anywhere anyway, and waded to shore. And there I found out that Outset was _not _just as I'd left it.

A chuchu popped up and attacked me as soon as I set foot on the beach. I figured it would be easier to just avoid it and run to my house, but the thing followed me! And picked up a few friends on the way.

They didn't follow me up onto the porch though, for which I was grateful. I tapped on the door before pushing it open.

"Grandma!" I called. "I'm back for a visit! It's kind of complicated!"

There was a dim glow from the kitchen, but no other signs of life. "Grandma?"

I wandered into the kitchen to check it out. Sure enough, there was a fire in the grate, and Grandma was asleep in her chair. "Grandma..." I said softly. "Wake up?"

She didn't even move. As I got closer, I saw that she was frowning in her sleep. No, it was more like her face was screwed up in pain. "Grandma?" I put my hand on her shoulder, and she moaned.

She was burning up. "Grandma! Grandma, wake up!" It was no good. She just moaned again and mumbled something unintelligible.

I pulled the blanket that was on her lap up around her shoulders and went back outside. Chuchus and Grandma getting sick? She was old, but she was healthy as a horse! I couldn't remember her _ever _being sick. Something was very wrong.

I started down to the dock to talk to King, but I remembered something. There was supposed to be a fairy living in the forest at the top of the mountain, the one where I'd found Tetra. I'd always thought it was just a story, but then, I'd thought a lot of things were just stories until recently... If there really was a fairy up there, she could heal Grandma!

The path was a bit creepier at night. Those stupid naknaks almost got the jump on me, would have too if they didn't make so much noise. But I killed the ones I had to and outran the rest.

When I got to the top of the path I planned on just running across the bridge, but remembered that there were planks missing and that it was dark. Bad idea. So I slowed down and watched my step.

Good thing too, since the bridge was gone. I mean _gone_, no traces of it even. And without the bridge, there was no way to get across to the forest. Not without wings anyway.

Or a magic leaf.

I climbed up on one of the posts that had held up the bridge and switched the wind, to give myself a better chance of _not _falling into the ocean. It was _really _dark, but I was pretty sure I remembered how far away the other side was, and could make it.

I took a deep breath and leapt. It was still a bit frightening, jumping from huge heights. I knew I wouldn't fall, but there all that empty air beneath my feet was...unsettling.

Still, the leaf did right by me and carried me safely to the forest. The darkness was still worrying, but all I had to do was find a fairy, and I thought I knew where she might be.

It was a big rock in what looked like a dry pond, tucked away in a corner of the forest. There was a sign next to it, labeling it as a "Fairy Fountain."

Now, to get rid of the rock. That was easy, since I'd brought some bombs with me, but I didn't expect it to go off so _quickly_. I thanked the gods I'd brought my shield.

Instead of a spring, there was a hole. Hardly fountain-like, but beggars can't be choosers. I lowered myself down as far as I could into the hole, then dropped the rest of the way.

A small dark tunnel, with a light at the end. That was spooky for a second, until I remembered I was pretty sure I wasn't dead. Then again, there are all those stories about ghosts who don't know they've died...

Okay, that's enough of that.

At then end of the tunnel I found...a fountain! Marble, glimmering lights, and weird echoes that almost sounded like music. Which would be weird..

I approached the fountain cautiously. I couldn't see any fairies, but maybe they were hiding. Which would also be weird.

Man, the last few days had been nothing but solid _weird_.

As I got closer to the fountain I thought I heard something... Laughter, from very far away. As soon as I set foot on the step up to the water, the laughter got louder and a weird purple being burst from the water.

She had four arms, no legs, purple skin, and was dressed in white. I would have turned and ran, if I wasn't pretty sure she was a fairy.

Weird!

"Young waker of the winds," she greeted me, in a voice like a flute. "You have freed me, and for that I thank you. Allow me to ease you of your weariness."

She put two of her hands together then parted them, revealing a lotus flower. She blew on the flower and it burst into petals, which drifted down on me and vanished into motes of light.

And, suddenly, I felt awesome! I hadn't even realized how worn out I was until I wasn't any more. This was better than coffee!

While I was reveling in my newfound energy, the fairy was bidding me farewell. She spun around and vanished back into the water, and half a dozen little fairies took her place. I scooped one up in the bottle I'd gotten from that crazy submarine and high-tailed it back to Grandma.

"All right little thingie," I said to the fairy in the bottle. "I want you to heal my grandma. Not me, my grandma. You got that?"

The little fairy looked at me curiously. I took that as a yes, but pointed the bottle toward Grandma as I opened it, just in case.

The little thing flew out and swirled around Grandma's chair. I watched it for a moment...then realized I really didn't want to talk to her just then. I hadn't saved Aryll, I was putting myself in insane amounts of danger, and I had a talking boat. Too much explanation, not enough time.

Well...not enough patience anyway.

So as her eyelids fluttered and her breathing became more regular, I ran for it. I don't know if she saw me, or heard the door slam, but I didn't care. I just couldn't handle talking to her right then.

"Are you ready?" King asked me, down at the dock.

"As I'll ever be. Let's do this thing."

zzz

A short chapter, that took MUCH longer than it should have to write. I'm sorry. ; I don't know what's wrong with me. It seems like I can never just sit down and WRITE. Maybe I'm tired from working full-time. I don't know.

Am I implying a relationship between Link and Tetra? Oh my! Would I do such a thing? ... Look at the title of the story. I couldn't just ignore it!

Anyways... I've started work on another story, that I might work on simultaneously with this one. It's not even CLOSE to an original idea, but it makes me happy. Probably because it's got Sheik in it. I like Shiek, okay? The whole cross-dressing princess thing...the just never ceases to entertain me. So, yeah, keep your eyes open.

Next chapter will hopefully not take so long and not be nearly as choppy. Hopefully.

Shouldn't I be getting bBETTER at this over time?


	11. Giant Talking Fish

Chapter 11. Giant Talking Fish

It was probably weird that I had never seen the back of the island that was my home, but I'd never really had a _reason_ to go back there. As far as I knew, it was just a big cliff. But when we got around the side of the island and saw the massive whirlpool of death, I started thinking maybe I should have done more exploring.

"What the _hell _is that thing?" I demanded.

"I believe Jabun placed it there, to protect himself."

"A giant whirlpool of death!"

"Er...yes."

"I think this Jabun guy has issues."

"Link..."

"I know, I know. When we get in there, I keep my mouth shut and let you do all the talking."

"Unless I say otherwise, yes."

"Can do. Now how _do _we get in there?"

"There, do you see that stone slab?"

"The _ginormous _one?"

"Ginormous?"

"It means really big. Yeah, I see it."

"Jabun is behind that...'ginormous' slab. We will have to destroy it to get to him."

"But the giant whirlpool of death is in the way!"

"We will just have to destroy the slab before the whirlpool destroys us."

I stared at him for a moment. "What _really _worries me is how calmly you're discussing our possible deaths."

"We _are_ doing something rather dangerous."

"I noticed." I pulled the top off the crate of bombs and hefted one experimentally. "How am I supposed to get these things all the way over to the slab?"

"Ah, that is where you are lucky to have me!" The panel in the middle of the back of the boat-part of King opened up and a small cannon popped up.

"What the- How did that thing fit inside there?"

"I am a _magic _boat, Link."

"Ohh... Right..."

I steered King carefully to the edge of the whirlpool, trying to stay in the calm water. My idea was to circle the whirlpool, as close to the edge as I had to be, and shoot at the slab. The whirlpool had other ideas.

We weren't within a foot of it before the current swept us up and pulled us into the outer edge of the swirling death.

"Holy crap, King!" I exclaimed. "What do I do? What do I do?"

"Um, shoot as the slab?"

"Oh, right. Um. Okay."

It wasn't easy to load the cannon and aim while spinning around, but I managed to only miss about half the time. The top half of the rock came dangerously close to hitting us, and I was almost happy when we got pulled even further into the whirlpool. Almost.

We were dangerously close to the center and a dizzying drowning, when the last big chunk of the slab crashed into the water and the whirlpool disappeared.

"We win!" I exclaimed.

"Link..."

"I know, I know. I'll be good."

We sailed slowly into the cavern, out of respect I assume. It was huge, high, and seemed to take up the entire inside of the island. It was also empty.

"Um, King?"

"Shh."

The water rippled near the far end of the cavern, and light seemed to be coming from somewhere. It got brighter and brighter until I could see it, like a star under the water. The surface of that water sort of bulged upward, and the source of the light burst forth.

It was a giant fish.

It spoke, with a mouth that could have swallowed a ship three time the size of king, in a language I did not understand. But I did recognize it. It sounded like the same language the Great Deku Tree had spoken to me. He'd said it was an old language... Maybe the one I spoke was decended from it?

I listened carefully.

"Well met indeed, Jabun," King said, apparently in response to what Jabun had said. "I am pleased to see you are safe."

Jabun said something else that I didn't catch _at all_.

"Yes," King replied. "It seems that Ganon has returned. There can be no other explanation."

Jabun asked a question.

"Unfortunately, that is not so."

He asked another, shorter one.

"The one I have brought with me has no connection to the legendary one.," King turned his head slightly, gesturing at me. "And yet I sense great promise in the courage that this one possesses."

Promise? Me? I wasn't sure if that was flattering or not, but the way King said it...it sounded like it _meant _something.

I was so busy thinking about that, that I almost didn't catch the word "Hyrule" in what Jabun said next. Hyrule? What did a drowned kingdom have to do with anything?

"I do," King said. "It is the only way."

Jabun was silent for a moment, then said something that sounded like agreement. He shook his angler-fish-head-lantern, until something round and shining fell out. I didn't even have to move, the object came right for me. I held out my arms and caught what could only be Nayru's Pearl.

Jabun said something that contained the word "Ganon."

"So...that foul rain and endless night were indeed elements of a curse brought on us by Ganon," King said, hardly seeming surprised. "He must intend to cast this land into pure darkness for all time."

Jabun spoke again, another question. Again, I heard the word Hyrule, and is ended with something that sounded...familiar. I _knew _that word, but what was it?

"I believe I have," King said, after a moment's thought.

Jabun said that word again, along with Ganon, and I thought I heard something that sounded like "hands," but I couldn't be sure. Then he dived back under the water. And I hadn't even had a chance to say thank you.

Outside the cavern, the sky was growing light.

"Ganon's curse has been broken by the power of the pearl that Jabun gave us, so morning should come soon. It is well that we have gathered all the pearls."

"Yeah... But now what?"

"I will direct you to the places where you must set the pearls. Once you have placed each of the pearls in its proper location, the proving grounds for your courage will become apparent." He paused for a moment. "Clearly, the search for Jabun has shown that Ganon has begun to make efforts to block our path forward. It is certain that the perils ahead will be greater than any you have faced thus far. You should finish any business you have here on Outset right now, so that you shall not have any regrets later."

I thought about that. My only regret was not saving Aryll, and I couldn't do that without stopping Ganon, and I couldn't do _that _without doing this pearl thing. "No regrets here, King. Let's go."

But, as we sailed away, I thought of one other thing I would have liked to do before I died. It was silly, selfish, and probably completely motivated by my own blossoming hormones, but...

I would have liked to have kissed a girl.

Am I a complete loser or what?

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wow, short chapter. I mean, _really_ short. You're not the loser, Link, I am. Sorry everyone. ;

Um, hope you liked it anyway?


	12. Maybe It'll Be Multiple Choice

Chapter 12. Maybe It'll Be Multiple Choice

The three little islands where the Pearls had to be placed were arranged in a lopsided triangle upon the ocean. They weren't as far as Windfall, but it was still past noon when I got to the first one.

There was a single small statue with its hands held out. It was funny-looking, with a big round head and a mark on its forehead. The mark looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out where I'd seen it before.

'_Wandering traveler who seeks the guidepost of the goddesses... Place the pearl you hold here_.'

Holy crap the statue talked!

And then I remembered where I'd seen the mark. On one of the pearls, Nayru's, I thought. I dug it out of my bag and placed it in the statue's outstretched hands. Its eyes glowed blue.

One down, two to go.

Din's pearl was next, with another little big-head statue and glowing orange eyes. And finally the third, Farore's pearl. That statue's eyes glowed green. And started flashing.

I backed away quickly as the flashing got faster, even going so far as to hide behind one of the steps that made up the island and put my shield above my head. But as I crouched there for several seconds and nothing happened, I started to think I was just paranoid. I climbed back up and examined the statue.

There was a BOOM, a bright light, a ringing in my ears, rushing wind, and I woke up floating face down in the ocean.

I righted myself and coughed the salt water out of my lungs, then grabbed on to the nearest solid object. It turned out to be King.

"You know," I choked. "I am getting _really_ tired of being hurled through the air."

"You should be more careful," he said.

I glared at him.

"Or perhaps I should have warned you that was going to happen."

"'Perhaps?'" I pulled myself into the boat. "Yeah. Do that next time."

Something was rumbling nearby. I turned and shoved wet bangs out of my face to look.

A huge tower, bigger than anything I'd ever seen, was rising from the ocean. It was covered in carvings, with no particular purpose that I could see, that made it look somehow alien and ancient. And pretty.

"Holy crap!" I said.

"It _is _quite impressive," King agreed.

"What is it?"

"This tower, which the pearls of the gods have caused to appear, is a place that the gods of the ancient world prepared so that they might test the courage of men. Only one who is able to overcome the trials that await here will be acknowledged by the gods to be a true hero. Only then will that hero be permitted to wield the power to destroy the great evil."

"Power? I'm doing this to get power? And, wait, what kind of trials?"

"Link, you must believe in your own courage, which has led you to triumph over the many hardships you have faced, and you must triumph once again! You must rise above the trials of the gods!"

"If this is your idea of a pep talk, it's not that great."

"It is the only way."

"You know, I hate it when people say that. There is never only one way to accomplish a goal. Never. I'm sure if we just stop and _think _for a minute..."

King sighed. "You are right, there is most likely another way. But this is the easiest."

"_Now _you're speaking my language. Let's go."

There was a big sort of fence-wall made of topped columns around the front of the tower, that served no purpose as far as I could see. The entrance to the tower itself was another big stone arch, and it appeared the entire lowest floor was under water. Which was fine by me, since I was kind of tired of going it alone.

There were more pillars inside, and everything was dripping water. "Where to?" I asked.

"I believe there is a door under the water."

"I don't think I can hold my breath that long."

"You will not have to. The water level does not seem stable."

Sure enough, the water started sinking as soon as he said that. We sailed over to the emerging platform, and I skidded across the slick stone floor to the door.

The small room was mostly taken up by a pool of water with boxes floating in it, but there was something moving around underneath the surface. The walls were cracked and water-stained, and looked as though one good kick would bring them crumbling down.

I had bombs.

I chucked one at closest wall, but it bounced off and fell back into the water. I wanted to dive in and fish it out, but I was afraid of whatever was down there. They looked yellow and squishy and...not like fish. Not good.

Before I could make a decision the water started draining from the pool. The yellow things went down with the water, until it was all gone and they just lay on the floor.

Chuchus. Yellow chuchus. I'd never seen yellow ones before, but I'd heard they were electrified, like eels. My sword was metal, and metal conducted electricity. So, for that matter, did people. Not good.

But I wanted that bomb back. I didn't have many and I didn't know where to get more. And I wanted to blow things up, dammit!

I hopped down in the hole and pressed myself against the damp wall, trying to keep away from the zappy goo-balls of death. The one closest to me started getting a little too close and the only thing I could think of to do was whang it with my boomerang. The chuchu made a hurt noise and jumped back. Hoorah! I had a way to fight back!

I made my way to the bomb, smacking away blobs when I had to, scooped the thing up and scrambled back out of the pit just as water started filling it up again.

I had a better idea this time. Instead of just chucking the bomb, I hopped over the water onto the floating box, and carefully placed it on the little bit of shelf in front of the wall. And then I ran for it.

The bomb exploded, shattering the wall into dust and rubble. The water was draining again, but I had enough time to get back onto that floating box and leap for the broken wall. There was a room on the other side, small and damp, with a decaying wooden chest near the back. It opened with a slight ripping of wood, to reveal a map! Luckily printed on some kind of animal skin instead of paper, otherwise it never would have survived underwater for so long.

I chose not to think about just what kind of skin it was.

I was getting a little bit claustrophobic, so I waited for the water to come back, then headed out of the room. King was waiting patiently, as always. I sometimes wondered what I would do without him. Not only was he my only mode of transportation, but he knew _everything_. I couldn't imagine what I'd do without him.

But soon, I had to go on alone. There were only so many rooms on the ground floor, and when I found stairs I knew I had to go up. It was a _Tower_, after all.

I'd discovered already that this wasn't your typical tower. There were statues that came when I whistled, and glowing steps of light. The whole thing was _full_ of magic. I didn't think it was made of magic, the pervading smell of damp assured me of that, but I didn't take chances either. Every step tested, every wall knocked on, every corner peeked around before I turned it. Well, I tried anyway. I don't have a long attention span.

But you knew that already.

The magic following statues were probably the most convenient thing there. Apparently it was too easy for switches to be on a timer, so I used the friendly little things to hold them down. After a bit, I found a song that let me control them to an even greater degree.

And then I found more stairs.

And monsters.

And a bow.

And puzzles.

And, finally, a big round room covered in carvings with a pit all around the edge.

"_You have done well to find this place_," A big spooky voice said. "_Oh, Chosen One... Accept this final challenge_."

"What final-" The carvings started to glow and an enormous pair of hands emerged from the wall, followed by a giant statue-face. "Oh. That."

The giant hands had what looked like eyes in their palms, and if I'd learned anything in my adventures thus far, it was _aim for the eyes_.

The hands tried to do what you imagine giant hands would do. Slap me around, punch me, clap me between them. Odd, the things that don't seem strange after a while. Honestly, you would think the weirdest thing about the fight would be the fact that my opponent was a giant floating statue head-and-hands, but the thing I found the weirdest was simply that it wasn't harder. Was I getting better at this?

Okay, I did get knocked into the spiky zappy pit of pain _once_, but that was it.

Not long after that, I shot the giant face in the face one last time. It shuddered, then slid back into the wall, so smoothly there weren't even any grinding stone noises.

"_The path can now be opened. Oh, Chosen One... What will now come to pass is tied to your fate, the path that you have chosen. Go forward with caution_."

"Will do!" I promised it.

The glowing ring of light took me up even higher, to a bell on top of the tower that I hadn't seen from sea level. The bell was huge, big enough to house me, Grandma, Aryll, and probably most of Tetra's pirates too. Which was a disturbing mental image, but one I chose not to dwell on.

The bell's clapper had a hook at the end of it, something perfect for my grappling hook to latch onto. And what was I supposed to do, _not_ ring the enormous bell? Blasphemy! I took out he hook, gave it a couple of good swings, and let fly.

Soon, I had let the entire Great Sea know that I was taller than _all of them_.

Something shuddered. It wasn't the tower, or at least I didn't think it was. It was more like the fabric of the universe had shifted, ever so slightly. Like someone smoothing out a wrinkle. From the top of the tower, I could see something glowing in the water below. Something that looked suspiciously like those crazy rings of light that were always taking me places.

I decided it was time to get down.

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AN: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh! I know, I suck, I'm sorry!

First there was Kumori-Con, then packing, then _moving_, and now that I've FINALLY got a new chapter up it's SHORT! And classes start on Tuesday! Dammit, at this rate I'm really NOT going to fulfil my promise. I thought this was going to be easy! I'm following the game plot! Hel, I'm ripping off the game dialogue! So why...why can't I just _write_?

sniffle 

On the bright side, with two stories in the works (and several non-fanfic projects), I can switch between them and not get bogged down with just one. I am making another promise! No way I'm going to be finished with either by the end of the year, but I'm giving myself deadlines! From now on, I will attempt to have a new chapter up ever week! That's right! By Sunday! The chapters may be short, they may be crack-induced, but they _will_ exist! Yatta!

Holy crap, it's 3AM. Well that explains a lot.


	13. The Land Beneath the Waves

Chapter 13. The Land Beneath the Waves

It was dusk by the time I got out of the tower and King and I went to investigate the ring of light. It looked just like every other glowing ring of light I'd seen lately, but it was the first one I'd had time to contemplate before going in.

"Where do you think it goes?"

"I _know_ where it goes," King said, in that tone that made me think he would roll his eyes if they weren't wood.

"Yeah? Where?"

King paused for a moment. "You have done well, Link. It would seem that the gods have acknowledged you to be a true hero. But this does not mean your trials have ended here... Once you take your first step into the world beyond the ring of light you see shimmering in the waves before you, your true trial will begin."

"My true trial huh? Is it gonna hurt?"

"What do you think?"

"I think let's go."

The ring of light, instead of taking us up and away, took us down into the water. I could see fish and floating things passing us by, but for some reason I had no trouble breathing. I probably should have held my breath, just in case, but it didn't occur to me.

We wound up in a pretty sort of area with lots of white marble and plants. It seemed like a nice park-like place, until I looked up. And up and up.

The white marble turned out to be part of a airy-fairy-straight-from-the-bedtime-stories-turrets-and-all _castle_.

Cool.

"Hey King?"

"Let me guess, 'where the hell are we?'"

"Yeah."

"You would not believe me if I told you. But there is an item here that will allow you to strike down Ganon. Once you have obtained it, all will be made clear."

"Couldn't you just, like, _tell_ me?"

"Would you like the short answer?"

"Yes."

"Hyrule. We're in Hyrule."

I took a moment to process that. "But…Hyrule _drowned_."

"Yes. And?"

I looked up at the leagues of water between us and the surface. "And…I guess I'll get going then."

"You do that."

The inside of the castle had a strange stillness to it. It could have been a side-effect of being in a giant magic airbubble under the ocean, or it could have just been my imagination.

Or it could have been because the place was frozen in time.

I got quite a scare when I almost walked into a Moblin, but after a few seconds of panic I realized it wasn't moving. It wasn't alone either. Ther were dozens of monsters all over the place, all of them frozen, all of them oddly pale. Grayish. Not enough that I thought they were stone, but enough that I could tell they wouldn't be hurting me any time soon. This was an interesting enough discovery, that I decided to do a bit of exploring.

It was very posh, very picturesque, but seemed oddly homey too. You could tell that this had once been someone's home. Sure, a giant literally palatial home, but a home nonetheless.

It was also kind of busted up, with bits of railing broken off and pillars tipped over and shattered into pieces. Someone had really done a number on the place.

Probably the monsters, before they got frozen.

There were two giant portraits, one on either side of the entrance, that caught my eye. One was of an older man, dressed in fancy robes and wearing a crown, obviously the king. He looked friendly though. Like the time of nice old man you could go to for advice about stuff. And he would buy you some juice and tell you home truths, but he wouldn't take any guff or put up with your self-doubt. He looked like he would be a good father, grandfather, whatever. I was sure he had been a good king.

Although…he was most likely king when whatever happened to Hyrule happened. So maybe not so good.

The other portrait was of a pretty girl about my age, every inch a princess, surrounded by men. They too were dressed in nice clothes. There was something odd about it though, I couldn't put my finger on it. It was like there was something familiar about that painting. But there was no way I'd seen it before, it was under the ocean, and there was no legends about a princes and a bunch of…

Wait. That wasn't right. My mind had been on the edge of a realization, then ran flat into a Don't Go There wall. The last time my brain had been this adamant about not thinking about something was when Grandma had been hinting around about the Facts of Life. There are just some things a guy does not want to think about, his Grandma knowing about sex is one of those.

But what ever it was about this portrait couldn't have been nearly as disturbing as that. It was more like…I just couldn't process it. My little blond head couldn't wrap itself around the thought.

But what _was_ the thought?

I looked up at the princess. Did I mention she was pretty? She was, in an ethereal sort of way. I couldn't imagine her doing the things Tetra did.

Woah, what was that? The princess as a pirate? Tetra as a princess?

Tetra. As a princess.

I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud. The idea of _Tetra_, the bad-ass pirate captain who could immobilize me with a wink, in a pink dress and heels. It was too funny _not_ to laugh. I shook my head and decided not to think about it any more.

There was a statue of the hero of time in the middle of the hall, looking all heroic and stuff. I wondered if he'd had the problems I was having with the whole saving the world gig. Probably not. Stupid jerk. At least he'd been an adult when it happened, _and_ he'd gotten to travel through time. All I had was a talking boat and a magic wand.

Although, the talking boat was really helpful, and the magic wand could do _all kinds_ of crazy shit. I should probably just stop glowering at the statue and be grateful I didn't have a princess that needed rescuing.

I pictured Tetra locked away in a tower, awaiting her dashing hero, and laughed again.

I was looking for a weapon, I reminded myself, or possibly a magical thingamabob that would help me defeat Ganon. Everything in the big entry hall was either frozen of broken, so I looked for somewhere else to go.

There was a doorway at the back, with more pillars and decorative wooden beams above it. I wasn't much for architecture, but even I could tell this place was beautiful.

Out the doorway, I was even more impressed. There was a pedestrian bridge thing curving up, and as I reached the high point I could see fields of green and crumbling ruins and trees and bushes and distant mountains. I took a moment to appreciate the scene, then realized that the ruins probably hadn't been ruins once, and there had once been someone to clear away the moss that grew between the stones.

There was a big arch at the very apex of the bridge, just as pretty and old as the rest of the castle. I had some vague notion of going through it and exploring all that green, but as I got closer I noticed a sort of red film stretched across the opening. I wanted to poke at it, but I figured that wouldn't be safe, so I did something I thought was smarter. I hit it with my sword.

Not smarter, as it turned out.

The film just absorbed my blow and tossed it back at me, hurling me onto my backside.

Stone, as it turns out, is not soft.

Deciding I had exhausted the possibilities of outside, I limped back into the castle. There must have been something I was missing.

There was that statue. The hero of time had defeated Ganon, right? Maybe there was a clue there. But when I looked, it just seemed like a normal statue. The engraving in the front wasn't even in a language I could read. That worried me, since maybe I needed to be able to read it in order to get the clue, but there was no sense stressing over things I couldn't change.

In the floor in front of the statue had a picture of the Triforce in it, with three triangle-shaped blocks arranged at the points. It was pretty, decorative, and keeping with the theme of the place, but I couldn't help wondering why, when all the pillars and railings and stuff on the walls had been broken, why were these blocks untouched?

I also noticed that they were _exactly_ the same size and shape at the three parts of the Triforce.

Oh boy, a block-pushing puzzle!

At least it wasn't difficult. The blocks moved in kind of a weird way, what with being triangular and all, but I got them into the right places with only a little screwing up. The only tricky part was that I couldn't figure out a way to get the last block into place without imprisoning myself in the middle. Finally, I decided that if it was the only there must be a reason, and yanked that last triangle home.

There was a grinding noise, then all three blocks sank into the floor as the statue of the hero of time slid back to reveal a staircase.

Secret passage, cool. Now we were getting somewhere.

It was dark down the stairs, but I couldn't find any torches. Once I made it to the bottom I saw some light coming from a doorway, so I relaxed. The light turned out to be coming from a number of stained-glass windows in a big round room overflowing with spooky ambiance. There were the windows, first of all, which depicted several important-looking people posing for some reason. Then there was the mini-moat-thing under the windows. Then the circle of ginormous knight statues. Then the sword in the middle of the floor.

Wait, back up.

Holy shit. That was not- That couldn't be- There was no way that-

The pirate charm Tetra had given me buzzed against my sternum and I heard King's voice. "Excellent, Link. To receive such a puzzle and decipher it is no small feat. Now, take the sword that lies before you. It is none other than the Master Sword, the blade of evil's bane. It is the only sword that can banish Ganon from the world above."

There was a moment of silence, then the charm buzzed again.

"Link? It is not going to hurt you."

More silence.

"Link?"

The next silence was thoughtful.

"You're in shock, aren't you?"

"Gwuh?"

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AN: I didn't proofread this one, so it probably has typos. Bite me! It's 7:19 AM and I have literally gotten NO sleep! None! I am hardcore!

Dammit, I know I had something to say about this chapter, but I have no idea what is was. Um...

Oh! Right! Link is NOT an idiot for not noticing that the princess in the painting totally looks like Tetra. The clothes and hair and setting are so different, that if you didn't already know the plot, you probably wouldn't have noticed either. Probably. Of course, our hero isn't exactly the brightest torch in the dungeon either. Hell, I dunno. I need sleep.


	14. Sister Saved, Check

Chapter 14. Sister Saved - Check

"I'll make this simple," King sighed over the pirate charm. "Walk up to the sword, take hold of the _non-sharp_ part, and pull."

"You said that thing's the Master Sword?" I said, finally regaining control over my vocal cords.

"Yes."

"The _Master_ Sword?"

"Yes."

"_The_ Master Sword?"

"Yes, Link!"

"And…I'm supposed to just go and- and _grab_ it?"

"I cannot think of a more effective way to remove it from the floor, so yes."

"But it's the Master Sword!"

"And the only thing that can kill Ganon!"

That gave me pause. "Did you say…kill?"

King paused too for a bit before answering. "I do not like encouraging a child to do harm to anyone, but I truly believe you are one of the few people capable of doing it. And it does need to be done, Link. Ganon will kill many others if he is not stopped soon. He would turn the world, your world, into a place of darkness and suffering."

"Couldn't- couldn't he just be sealed away somewhere again?"

"You have seen for yourself how well that worked the last time."

"Well, yeah, but…"

"He would kill you without a thought. He _tried_ to kill you once, remember?"

"Well yeah, but-"

"He is keeping your sister imprisoned."

"But-"

"But what, Link?"

When I spoke, my voice came out small and wavery. "But what am I supposed to do after that?"

King said nothing.

"How can I just go on like nothing happened, knowing I killed a man?"

"You will have saved the lives of hundreds, Link."

"You didn't answer my question."

He thought for a moment. "Sometimes people have to do things they do not like; it is part of what makes us human. While I firmly believe that no man has the right to rob another man of life, Ganon has done just that to too many to be allowed to continue. I never said it was the right thing to do, but-"

"If you say 'it's the only way' I swear to the gods, King, I will go straight back to Outset and pretend none of this ever happened."

"It is not the only way. Like you said, we could seal him up again. He would break out in time, but not for many years. He would be the problem of the next generation. Do you really want your children, or your children's children, to have to deal with him?"

"No…"

"It is not the only way to stop him this time, but it is the only way to ensure he never hurts anyone ever again."

"So what am I supposed to do after?"

"You will live your life, knowing that you killed someone. It will haunt you, but you will take comfort in knowing you saved your sister, your friends, and the world. In time, it will haunt you less. You will move on. You will never forget it, but you will still have a happy and long life."

"You promise?" my voice was small again. I sounded like a child, but at the moment I didn't care.

"I would give up my own life to make it so."

I took a deep shuddering breath and nodded. "Okay then."

I walked forward, grabbed the sword with both hands, and pulled.

There was a bright flash of light, blinding me temporarily. I threw one arm in front of my face and tried to stay upright.

Something _changed_ about the castle when I pulled out the sword.. I couldn't tell what it was, but it felt different. More…alive.

I blinked until I could see again, then decided to examine the sword. It was in excellent shape, especially considering how long it had been sitting in that room. The blade gleamed silver in the dull light, and the weight was less than I would have expected for something so…legendary.

I took a few practice swings, enjoying the feel, then I heard something from up the stairs. Footsteps, grunting, and the clanking of armor.

Crap.

I snuck up the steps as quietly as I could and peered up at the big hall. Just as I'd thought, the monsters were moving. Moblins, Bokoblins, and even a few Darknuts. And I knew if I wanted to make it out of there alive, I had to finished all of them…before they could finish me.

I tightened my grip on the Master Sword and charged into battle.

I don't know how long it took. Could have been hours, could have been days. There were moments when I thought I'd never see the sun again, and others where I was startled by my own prowess. Finally, finally, I stumbled out the front entrance and sank down on the steps in front of King.

"How are you?" he asked softly.

"Surprised to be conscious," I admitted.

"You should rest."

I shook my head. "I have the Master Sword now. I can defeat Ganon. I'm going to get Aryll back. Be sides…" I looked up at him. "How much time do we really have?"

"Ganon has likely been made aware of our little incursion already," King said with a sigh. "But as you said, you have the Master Sword. That sword shall shine in the darkness, casting back evil. With it in your hands, none can keep you from rescuing your sister! Do not be afraid!"

I shoved myself to my feet. "I'm not afraid. But Ganon should be."

King looked at me for a moment. "Your false bravado is showing."

"Oh…shut up and tell me how to get out of here."

The late afternoon sunlight was turning the tips of the waves orange when we bobbed back to the surface. It would be late by the time we got to the Forsaken Fortress, but there was nothing I could do about that.

King and I made most of the trip in silence. I don't know what he was thinking about, but I was mostly trying not to think. I didn't have much faith in myself, really. But I knew that if I didn't save Aryll, it would have to be because I died. As long as I was alive, I would never stop trying. It was that simple.

As the sun sank below the horizon, something occurred to me. "Hey King?"

"Yes?"

"You said before, that you thought I was one of the only people who could stop Ganon?"

"Yes."

"Well…I think you're wrong. I think, with the proper motivation, just about anybody could be a hero."

"Do you?"

"Yeah! I mean, the only reason I got wrapped up in this is because of Aryll. If she hadn't been kidnapped, you'd be helping some other poor sucker save the world."

"Somehow…I doubt that."

"What do you mean?"

"You give people too much credit, Link, and yourself too little. If you were anyone else, you would have given Aryll up for dead the moment that bird snatched her away."

"What? I would never!"

"But most people would. Most people would not consider themselves capable of the things you have done. You are braver than you know, Link."

I stared at the horizon, the Forsaken Fortress already a dark blot. "I think Tetra would call me an idiot."

"I think Tetra is one of those people who covers her fears and worries with insults and bravado."

I blinked. "Wait…so you think she's _worried_ about me?"

"Something like that."

I thought about that for a minute. "Cool."

Getting into the Fortress was actually easier this time. They still hadn't repaired most of the searchlights, and the massive wooden door to the dock was all cracked and warped. That's what happens when you let monsters do your maintenance.

It wasn't until I was out of King and starting up the steps to the main part of the Fortress that it occurred to me that I had no plan. At all. Not, of course, that it mattered once I got attacked by a giant phantom who could throw energy balls.

My first instinct was to flee, I'll admit, but wouldn't yours be? It was twice the size of a normal man, floating, and apparently _made_ of shadow. And let's not forget the sword that was taller than I was. The first energy ball had missed, thankfully, but when it hit the ground it sort of… spread, and I couldn't run fast enough to escape the effects. It wasn't as bad as I'd thought it was going to be, but it left my legs numb. I could barely walk, much less run.

I drew the Master Sword and sent up a silent prayer.

The next ball of energy was better aimed then the first, probably since I was no longer a moving target. The only thing I could think of to do was try to hit it with my sword and hope it didn't just electrocute me.

It didn't. In fact, it bounced back at the shadowy phantom guy, who hit it with his shadowy phantom sword, bouncing it back toward me. I hit it, he hit it, I hit it, he hit it. Just as I was starting to wonder what the _hell_ was going on, the phantom swung a hair too low and the energy ball struck him square in the chest.

He let out a cry that wasn't even _close_ to human, and came crashing to the ground. Up close, he looked just as big, scary, and shadowy, but I had a sword that could "shine in the darkness, casting back evil." Wahoo.

Whatever that thing was made of, it wasn't flesh. It barely felt solid. The sword just swooshed right through it, leaving a kind of smoky trail instead of a wound. Somehow though, it seemed to be working, and once the shadow's head was separated from its body, the whole thing dissipated.

I took this as a good sign and made a run for it.

Not even twenty yards from the quickly-dissolving wisps of shadow that were all the remained of the phantom, I found a big spiky chest and a giant hammer. We're talking _huge_ here. The hammer part was as big as my _head_. It had a skull on it too. Extremely badass. The phantom, I figured, was probably guarding this thing rather than the fortress itself. Not that the fortress was particularly well-guarded. Honestly.

Given the fact that I had just engaged in epic battle on the front steps of the fortress, I decided stealth would be kind of pointless. The skull hammer proved useful in clearing out monsters, since I could shake the very foundations of the building with one strike.

I made my way to Aryll's prison with little incident.

The door was twice as guarded as last time, but me and my hammer of badassitude made short work of them. I shoved the door open and headed straight for the cage.

Aryll leapt to her feet, followed shortly by the other two girls in there. "Big Brother!" she exclaimed. I was relieved to see she looked none the worse for wear. "You're okay! I was...worried."

"_You_ were worried?" I said, aware that I was grinning like an idiot. "I'm not the one who got kidnapped." I tried to open the door to the cage, but it was locked.

"The cell won't open that easily!" a voice exclaimed from behind me. I whirled around, heart pounding.

Tetra grinned at me from the doorway, flanked by Gonzo and a pirate whose name I couldn't remember.

She shook her head. "There you go, acting before you think, as usual. I swear! Do you even realize that we had to draw that monster bird off for you? It was about to come flying in here after you again!"

"It was?" I looked up at the open ceiling, hand going to my sword automatically.

Tetra cocked her head at me. Then blinked. Then her eyes opened wide. "That sword! Where did you get that! Are you- Is it even possible? How could it be?"

"Am I what?" I asked, half-hoping she would ask.

She shook her head. "Well, never mind about that. For now, we'll just take these girls. I'm sure their fathers back at town will pay a handsome reward for their return."

"That's why you're doing this? For a reward?"

"Well I'm sure as hell not doing it to save _your_ scrawny ass."

I smiled, remembering King's words. "Right…"

Gonzo ripped the door from its hinges with one mighty heave, and he and the other pirate escorted Aryll's cellmates out of the room and presumably to their ship.

Aryll smiled up at me. "I can't believe you really came to rescue me…"

"Well of _course_ I did. What kind of brother would I be if I didn't risk life and limb to get you home safe?"

Tetra coughed. "I'm so sorry to interrupt such a heartwarming reunion, but isn't there still something you need to take care of?"

I looked at her. "You know about…"

She nodded. "And I'm guessing from that sword, things are a lot worse than I thought."

"You have no idea."

"Brother?" Aryll took hold of my sleeve. "What's going on?"

"If you're worried about your sister, don't be." Tetra gave me a little half smile. "I promise I'll deliver her safely back to your little island. Normally, I'd expect a huge reward for something like this, but this time, it's my treat!"

I returned the smile. "Thanks Tetra."

She looked startled, and shifted her gaze to my sister. "Listen, Aryll, your brother still has some things to take care of. Big, important, grownup things. He'll be back soon, so you just wait nice and quiet until he returns, okay?"

She tightened her grip on my sleeve. "But, Big Brother..."

Gonzo appeared back at the doorway. "Miss Tetra! We have to hurry! The bird will be here any second!"

"Gonzo! Excellent! You're just in time!" She removed Aryll's fingers from my sleeve and pulled her forward. "Take this one for me."

"Huh?" Gonzo looked down at her. "But she's-"

"She's fine! Just do as you're told!"

Gonzo shrugged and scooped Aryll up, depositing her over one shoulder.

"Big Brother!" she cried.

"It's fine Aryll," I called after her. "I know these guys, they're all right!"

Tetra followed Gonzo out the door, but glanced back at me once. "Link," shje said, her voice more serious than I'd ever heard it. "We'll be back. I swear it!"

I nodded. "I'll be waiting."

The door closed behind her with a sharp snap, and a click that I could only assume meant it was locked.

I was trapped.

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AN:

Lots of talking this chapter. Lots of thinking too. Moral ramifications and all that jazz. But look! Tetra's back! Yay Tetra!

I WAS going to have the fight with the Helmaroc King this chapter, but I've got about five minutes until midnight and I WILL keep to my schedule, dammit! Since I'm so short on time, no proof-reading for you! Shudder in horror at the typos!

Man I hate typos...


	15. Villain Killed, Not Check

Chapter 15. Villain Killed - Not Check

The giant Helmaroc flapped down into the room, the breeze from its wings kicking up dust and nearly pushing me off my feet. I backed up toward the wall, stepping onto the wooden ramp that ran all the way up the tower. The bird was having trouble moving in the small space, but it had a _vast_ advantage in size.

Before I could formulate anything resembling a plan, the bird hit something in the floor that went "chunk," and the room started to fill with water. I couldn't fight while swimming, so I started running up the ramp.

The water was coming up fast, too fast. I could barely run ahead of it. It did _not_ help that the bird kept trying to peck and claw at me. It missed, thank the gods, but it kept destroying the ramp behind me. Soon I could see the stars ahead, and emerged from the tall room to the top of the tower.

The bird emerged just behind me, trying to chomp me up as soon as it saw me. I dodged as best I could in the small space, then turned to see the bird struggling to pull its beak from where it was stuck in the floor.

It was vulnerable.

I pulled out the skull hammer and whacked the bird upside the head. I was just trying to, I don't know, knock it out or something; so imagine my surprise when what I thought was its face cracked into pieces.

The bird screeched and reared up, twisting its beak free and stumbling backwards. It tried to fly, but was still reeling, and wound up splashing into the water that had filled the tower.

I lingered where I stood for a moment, conflicted. A part of me wanted to go peer down into the water and see what I could see, another part knew that it couldn't be that easy, and wanted to get away from the whole place as fast as I could. There was a sort of path with a few steps nearby, leading up to the place where I had seen that man. Ganon.

I glanced back at the water, then headed for that path. Just as I was about to cross onto it, a row of sharpened stakes sprang up, and I heard splashing and another screech.

_See_? a little voice in my head said. _I told you it wouldn't be that easy_.

"Shut up," I muttered. The bird flapped up high in the sky and screeched at me. "You shut up too!"

It hovered in the air for a moment, then pulled into a dive.

Wait, could it really be _that_ stupid?

Apparently so. I dodged, and it got stuck. I almost felt sorry for the thing. Almost.

I took the hammer to it again, this time managing to completely shatter the mask it had on its face. The face beneath was that of a normal Helmaroc…only about a hundred times bigger.

It pulled its beak free, but didn't try to fly; instead waddling around and flapping its wings to try and shove me against the wall. Sometimes it took a swipe at me with claw or beak, and there was nothing I could do but dodge.

I tried hitting it with my boomerang, and it did stun it for a while, but not long enough to do any good. Arrows were about the same, but they at least seemed to be annoying the bird.

Finally, it tried to peck me, and I skipped out of the way and brought the skull hammer down on its head.

The bird squawked in pain, and for a moment that familiar sucking guilt filled my insides. Then the hammer came down for the last time, there was a sickening _crunch_, and the bird stopped moving.

I swallowed hard, put the hammer away, and backed off. The Helmaroc exploded, black smoke wooshing out and spilling over the top of the tower and up along that path. When it cleared there was no trace of the bird or its mask, and the stakes blocking my way were gone.

I ran all the way up the path and to the strange little house at its head. I didn't pause when I got there, I just yanked the door open and charged in, sword at the ready.

There he was, his back to the door, but I knew he had been waiting for me. He was a big man, overweight but powerful. He was dressed in dark robes of some kind, kept immaculately clean.

"It's been a while, boy," he said, just a trace of a sneer in his tone. "You have done well to sneak into my fortress and wriggle your way all the way up here. I suppose the least I can do is commend you for your reckless courage."

"Gee," I said. "Thanks."

"My name is Ganondorf. And I am the master of Forsaken Fortress." He turned and faced me.

He had dark skin and vibrant hair, receding from his forehead. His nose had been broken at some point, and it made him look like some kind of predatory bird. Somehow, some way, I could tell he was the kind of person who derived pleasure from destruction and devestation.

He was smiling.

I gulped.

"By the way, boy," his tone was light, conversational. "When you drew that sword of yours out of its pedestal, did you by chance notice how all the monsters frozen in time down there suddenly began stirring again? Do you understand precisely what that means?"

I was too busy panicking to answer. How did he know about the frozen monsters? How did he know what had happened?

"I highly doubt you do. Foolish child. While that sword is indeed the blade of evil's bane, at the same time, it has long played another role... You see, it is also a sort of key," his expression stretched into a pained sneer. "A most wretched little key that has kept a seal on me and my magic intact!" He calmed himself quickly, smiling again. "By withdrawing the blade, you have broken that seal."

"No," I heard myself gasp. "_No_!" I gripped the sword and charged at him, an unconscious battle cry escaping from my lips.

Ganon knocked me aside casually, but hard enough that I saw stars. My vision cleared in time for me to see him draw a sword from somewhere in his robes, a single-edged blade, perfectly straight, little more than a long machete. He turned and started walking toward me. I tried to get up and ready to fight, but my body had betrayed me. My limbs felt like spaghetti, and I knew I was visibly trembling. I couldn't stand, could barely push myself backward, away form him.

He spoke again, not bothering to disguise the disgust in his voice. "You cannot defeat me with a blade that does not shine with the power to repel evil! What you hold is useless." He surveyed me thoughtfully for a moment, swinging his sword casually. "Go back to the world below, and tell that to the pathetic fools who made this blade! Its power is gone, and its edges are dull!"

I thought, for a second, that he was going to let me go, but he raised his sword and sneered at me, some strange emotion crossing his face. I'd never had someone look at me that way before, and I never wanted anyone to do it again.

It was all over…

Glass shattered and Ganon and I both turned and saw a small figure crash through his window, dust itself off, and pull a cutlass from its belt.

"Tetra," I breathed.

"Link, get up!" she snapped. She charged Ganon, and he actually blocked her strike once before grabbing her by the collar and lifting her in the air.

"Tetra!" I used the wall to pull myself to my feet and swayed for a moment, then stumbled forward toward my sword.

"Uhh! Stop!" She kicked and struggled vainly. "Let- let me go!"

"You pathetic little sea rat," Ganon snarled, shaking her. Something gold escaped her collar and bounced against her chest. Ganon looked down at it in surprise, then at his right hand. Both the gold thing and the back of his hand began to glow. His eyes widened and he grinned. "My Triforce of Power is resonating," he said it almost reverently, then laughed. "At long last, I have found you... Princess Zelda!"

"Wh- what? What are you talking about?" Tetra exclaimed. There was a hint of desperation in her voice. "I don't know any Zelda!"

"Feigning ignorance will gain you nothing," Ganon spat. "Tell me, if you are not Zelda, then why do you have this fragment of the Triforce?"

"What?"

I'd managed to grab the Master Sword _and_ stay upright, so I decided to attack while Ganon was distracted.

Some small part of me knew I was going to die, but was being drowned out by the need to do something, anything. I could die, fine, but I couldn't let anything happen to Tetra. She'd tried to save me, and now we were both done for. It wasn't right, wasn't fair, and I was _not_ going to let it happen.

Luckily for both of us, before I could begin my suicide run a pair of familiar wings swooped through the window and enveloped me. There was a flurry of feathers, and shouting, and movement, and the next thing I knew I was in the air outside the Fortress.

I looked up. "Quill!" He grinned down at me. I looked around desperately, and saw Prince Komali nearby, with Tetra in his arms. I was so grateful to see her safe, that I didn't even get jealous until later.

There was a massive flapping and Quill swooped backward to make room for…Valoo?

None other. The huge red dragon pulled up level with the small room, took a deep breath, and engulfed the structure in flames.

Quill and Komali carried Tetra and me to where the King of Red Lions was waiting, some distance from the Fortress. Komali lay Tetra very gently at the back of the boat, and I noticed for the first time that she wasn't moving.

"Tetra!" I fell to my knees at her side. "Oh gods, no!"

"It's all right, Link!" Quill said. "She just passed out."

I put a hand on her chest and leaned forward. Her heartbeat and breathing seemed normal, but there was a frown creasing her face. Satified, I turned back to Quill and Komali

"What about the others? My sister and the pirates? Did they get out all right?"

"They're long gone," Komali grinned, looking rather proud of himself. I suppose he had a right. "You can relax. Everyone is safe now."

I looked down at Tetra. "Barely…"

"Lord Valoo!" King greeted him. The huge dragon settled on the water in front of us. "You arrived not a moment too soon. We are deeply grateful."

"Very deeply," I added.

Valoo said something in that language that all the non-evil giant beasts seemed to share. I heard the word "Ganon," and something that might have meant "fire."

"I am aware of this," King said. "Yet I thought our first priority should be to separate these two from Ganon's grasp."

The dragon nodded and said something else, then flapped his wings and took off.

"I guess that's our cue," Quill said. He clapped me on the shoulder. "Good luck."

"Bye Link! Give your friend my regards!" He grinned, cheekily, I thought.

They followed Valoo off in the direction of Dragon Roost.

I found myself sitting dejectedly in the bottom of the boat, somehow holding Tetra's hand. "King I- I almost…"

"I know. It is not your fault. There are things, many things, that you do not know. Things that I have kept from you."

"Like what?"

King didn't say anything.

"King?"

"There is…too much, and too little time. We should return to the land beneath the sea."

"And you'll tell me there?"

"Yes Link, I will tell you everything there."

"Okay." I released Tetra's hand, reluctantly, and made her as comfortable as I could. "Let's go."

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AN:

Whatcha! Once agian, I update on time! I wrote almost this entrie chapter today, which is why it's both short, and relies so heavily on the game dialogue. I did change a few things...not a lot. Sorry.

I'm getting a bit dejected, since everyone likes my other story more than this one. I mean, I guess it's good that people prefer my mostly original stuff to this not ever close to original stuff, but I'd like it if they both got attention. This one takes a lot more effort than the other. Oh well.

Lessee... What to say... Um... Wait, no, hold on... Uh...

I got nothin.'


	16. Ow, My Brain

Chapter 16: Ow, My Brain

The sun was peeking over the waves when we got to the Tower of the Gods. I'd managed to stop shaking, but I still felt weak. I don't know if I had a concussion or something, or if it was just all the stress and lack of sleep catching up with me, but I hated it. I felt so helpless.

The little frown on Tetra's face had disappeared after a while, so I assumed she'd slipped from unconsciousness into sleep. I didn't know much about medicine. I knew you should eat a balanced diet and wash any wound that broke the skin. I knew you should put ice on any swelled bits, and not go to sleep if you'd been hit in the head. I didn't know _why_ you should do all of those things, but most of the time I remembered to do them. As far as I knew though, none of those things applied to Tetra. I didn't know why she'd passed out, or if she was hurt, and I was afraid to touch her in case she woke up and hit me.

Luckily she did wake up when we got to the land beneath the sea. I'd just been debating shaking her shoulder or something, when she twitched and groaned.

"Ohhh... Owwww..." She sat up and winced, catching sight of me. "Link! You're all right?" she put a hand out toward me and I took it, helping her to her feet.

"I'm fine, just a little sore. What about you?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I don't remember-" She looked around "What is this place? Hey! And Ganondorf! What happened to him?"

"Well, the-"

I was interrupted by buzzing from my chest. I pulled the charm out of my shirt, and heard King's voice come from it.

"Link! You must come now to the room where you got the Master Sword!"

"Who is using that stone?" Tetra asked, more to herself than to me. She addressed the necklace directly. "Just who are you? Link and I are the only ones who can speak through this stone! How dare you use what's not yours?"

I blinked at that. She sounded downright hurt.

"Your name is Tetra, correct? You must come with Link to see me at once!" King's voice said. Or at least it sounded like him. But the boat's carved head wasn't moving at all. Then who…

"Hmph!" Tetra folded her arms. "Well, don't you sound important! Fine, we're on our way. Just hold your horses, whoever you are." She grabbed my arm. "Come on, Link, you heard the stone. You're supposed to show me how to get to where that voice is."

"Er, right, it's this way."

Tetra barely gave the castle a once-over as we walked inside, and merely snorted at the décor. I felt the urge to draw her attention to the portraits, but couldn't seem to find my voice. Something was niggling at the back of my brain, something that I felt like I should have noticed or should have realized. Whatever it was, it still eluded me.

"Down here," I said, starting down the stairs.

Tetra ignored me, staring up at the statue of the Hero of Time.

"What is it?"

"You," she looked down at me and grinned, cocking her head a bit. "I _thought_ I'd seen those clothes somewhere before. I wonder why I never noticed before."

"Huh?" I glanced down at myself. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot I was still wearing this stuff."

"It sort of suits you." She came down the stairs, grin softening into a genuine smile. "Green brings out your eyes."

I felt my ears getting hot. "You-you think so?"

"Yup! Bit dorky too. Perfect for you."

"Hey!"

She laughed. "Bit dorky," she repeated, "but overall heroic."

I blinked.

"Come on," she went down a step. "Down here, right?"

"Uh, right."

The dim colored light just barely illuminated the doorway, and it took a few seconds before our eyes adjusted enough to tell objects from shadows. It took significantly less time for me to realize that the room wasn't as I remembered it.

There was a man standing there, with his back to the door. He was tall, dressed in red, had white hair, and what looked like a crown on his head.

Several thoughts flashed through my mind. The King of Red Lions, the portraits in the hall, the conversations with Jabun and Valoo, the pirate's charm, what little I knew of the old legends.

I could almost _feel_ myself slip into shock.

"Are you him?" Tetra demanded. "Are you the one who was speaking through my stone without my permission? Answer me!"

The man spoke with a deep rumbling voice I knew all too well. "This stone is an enhanced version of the Gossip Stones long spoken of in the legends of the Hyrulian Royal Family. I am the one who made it."

"_You_ made it?" Tetra raised one eyebrow. "The royal family's Gossip Stone? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Have neither of you have heard the tales? The tales of the kingdom spoken of in the legend of the great hero. The place where the power of the gods lies hidden. This place, where the two of you now stand, is that kingdom. This is Hyrule. And I am its king: Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule."

He turned, and sure enough he was the king from the portrait. The artist had made him look a bit younger, a bit slimmer, and a bit more stern, but there was no doubt it was him.

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a look on Tetra's face that was a milder version of what I was feeling. Like the world was going crazy and she _wanted_ to fight against it, but knew she couldn't. Still, the effort had to be made.

"Link, do you not recognize my voice?" the king said.

"Oh, I recognize it all right," I said. "But I thought you were back upstairs."

"Indeed, I am the one who guided you here. I am the King of Red Lions."

Tetra made a strangled sound.

"I'm mad at you, by the way," I added.

"You have a right to be," he admitted. "I felt there was no need for me to reveal my true identity to you so long as the Master Sword could defeat Ganon. But now..." He trailed off, and when he spoke again he seemed to have changed what he was going to say.

"Both of you must listen to me. Once, long ago, this land of Hyrule was turned into a world of shadows by Ganon, who sought to obtain the power of the gods for his own evil ends. My power alone could not stop the fiend, and our only choice was to leave the fate of the kingdom in the hands of the gods. When the gods heard our pleas, they chose to seal away not only Ganon, but Hyrule itself..." His expression turned grave. "And so, with a torrential downpour of rains from the heavens, our fair kingdom was soon buried beneath the waves, forgotten at the bottom of the ocean.

"Yet all was not lost. For the gods knew that to seal away the people with the kingdom would be to grant Ganon's wish for the destruction of the land. So, before the sealing of the kingdom, the gods chose those who would build a new country and commanded them to take refuge on the mountaintops." He looked at me and Tetra. "Those people were your ancestors. Hundreds of years have passed since then... So long as Ganondorf was not revived, Hyrule would remain below, never waking from its slumber."

He was silent for a long moment, looking at the patters the stained glass windows made on the floor.

"Tetra, come to me," he said finally. She did; there was no arguing with that tone. He held out his hand, and the gold necklace from before again floated up out of her shirt and both it and his hand started to glow.

"The necklace you wear is part of a sacred treasure called the Triforce of Wisdom, which has been passed down for many ages within the royal family of Hyrule. Your mother passed this down to you and instructed you to treasure it and guard it with your life. Am I not correct?"

She nodded. "But how-"

The king interrupted her. "The Triforce of Wisdom is none other than the sacred power of the gods that we have kept from Ganon's clutches for so many long years. The gods placed upon your ancestors the task of protecting it from evil's grasp. You, too, must abide by the laws of the past..." He looked sad. "And so the time has come for me to teach you the fate into which you were born, the very reason that you live."

The king's other hand began to glow too, forming a triangle with Tetra's necklace. The light grew brighter and brighter, until I had to shield my eyes, and when it died down…

I stared in shock at the scene before me. The king from the portrait, and now the princess as well. Except it wasn't the princess, it was Tetra.

Her tan had faded and her hair was flowing loose around her shoulders, kept out of her face with a gold tiara. She was wearing a pink dress with more gold accessories, and long white gloves.

She looked beautiful, but she didn't look like herself.

On the back of her right hand three triangles appeared, the Triforce, and one of them glowed.

"My...fate..." Tetra's voice came from the princess's mouth. She sounded distinctly shell-shocked.

"You are the true hero of the royal family of Hyrule" the king said. "The last link in the bloodline. You are Princess Zelda."

"Zelda?" Tetra repeated. "I'm...a princess?"

"You are confused, aren't you? I suppose such is to be expected."

I thought "confused" was probably the understatement of the century, but didn't say anything.

Tetra looked back at me, and she looked so lost, so scared, so overwhelmed, that something went wrenched inside of me. In that moment, I knew I would do anything, _anything_, to help her. I would go to the ends of the earth, face down monsters great and small, risk death and dismemberment, anything, as long as I never saw that look in her eyes again. Whether she wanted me or not, I was hers now.

In retrospect, that was probably the moment I fell in love.

"Link!" the king said, forcing my attention back to him. "I am terribly sorry that you have been caught up in these events, but now that it is known that Tetra is indeed Princess Zelda Ganon will be searching frantically for this child in an attempt to get the power of the gods she possesses. He will not rest until he has found her. If he succeeds, my ancient kingdom under the sea will be turned into a land of shadow and despair... and so will the world you know above the waves." The world above the waves wasn't as important as the girl beneath it at the moment, but I sensed somehow that shadows and despair were a bad thing. "Link, I need you to lend me your strength in this dark hour. I have a suspicion about what has caused the Master Sword to lose its power. I need for you to come with me back to the lands above the water and return the power to repel evil to the Master Sword."

I nodded. "Right."

He turned back to Tetra. "Zelda, it is far too dangerous for you to join us in this task. Fortunately, this sacred chamber is not yet known to Ganon. It is my wish that you wait here in hiding until we return."

"But-"

He vanished, poof, before she could get another word out, and I heard his voice from behind me.

"Link! We must go!"

I turned in time to see him in the doorway, then he vanished once more. Just winked out of existence.

He was dead, I realized suddenly. A spirit, bound to his kingdom and his descendants. He and I were going to have to have a serious talk, and soon.

"Link," Tetra said, her voice holding that same heartbreaking note of loss as her eyes had. I looked at her, and saw she was literally wringing her hands, face screwed up in pain. "I- I don't know how to say this…"

"It's all right," I said, trying to sound comforting, "Tetra."

She almost jumped at the sound of her name, then shook her head. "Everything that's happened to you and your poor sister... It's all been my fault… I- I'm so sorry."

"No!" I exclaimed. "Tetra, no! It's not your fault! You didn't know about any of this! You've already helped me when you didn't have to, you-"

"But it's _because_ of me!" There were tears in her eye. _Tears_. In _her_ eyes. "Because I'm the princess! Ganon was looking for _me_. _I_ brought that bird to your island. I- I-"

"It. Is. Not. Your. Fault." I said it slowly and carefully. "I _chose_ to get involved in this. I could have stayed on Outset, safe and sound."

"I wish you _had_!" She stared at the floor, her face now doing that 'I'm-not-gonna-cry' frown. "I don't want anything to happen to you…"

I took a step toward her. "Nothing is."

"I wish I could go with you…"

"You're safer here." I took another step.

"I don't want to be safe."

"Tetra…"

I was close enough to touch her now, and I wanted nothing more. My "crying girl" instinct, the one that makes all men want to wrap their arms around the girl in question and tell her everything is going to be all right, was in overdrive.

But something was holding me back. My subconscious had built an invisible wall to keep me from doing something sublimely stupid. But what…

Tetra's fist was clenched hard in that white glove, shaking a little. She was frowning so hard I thought the lines would be permanently etched into her face. If she had been anyone else, hell if she had been _me_, she would be sobbing by now. But Tetra refused to cry. Even now, even when it was just me, she wouldn't show weakness.

Tetra may have looked like Princess Zelda, but she was still Captain Tetra at heart. She was a princess by birth, but a pirate by nature.

If I had hugged her, she would never have forgiven me.

So I shrugged my shoulders, smirked, and said. "You'd just get in my way."

She blinked in surprise, and looked up at me. I smirked at her. She squinted and cocked her head.

"_I_ would get in _your_ way?"

"That's what I said."

"Why you cocky little-" She shoved at my shoulder, tears forgotten. "Is that any way to speak to a princess?"

"Princess? Ha! I'd say I'll believe it when I see it, but I see it and I _still_ don't believe it. It'll take more than an accident of birth to turn _you_ into someone I could bow to." It had taken much less, actually, but I wasn't going to tell _her_ that.

"You seem to be forgetting I'm still your _captain_. You owe me for getting you off that dinky little island."

I waved my hand casually. "I would have gotten off by myself eventually."

"_Bullshit_. Without me, you'd still be gutting fish with that old rusty sword of yours."

"Well then, Captain, what's your assessment of the current situation?"

She looked at me for a moment, than looked around the room, then her face grew distant, and a shadow of her previous sorrow crossed it.

"I'm what Ganon wants, and you've got what can defeat him. But it _can't_ defeat him, not yet." She bit her lips. "It's…probably better if I stay here. Where he can't get me. Just until you recharge the sword or whatever!" She pointed at me. "The _second_ that sword is worth its weight, you come back and get me. That's an order!"

I saluted smartly. "Aye-aye Cap'n!"

I turned and started for the door, but Tetra's voice stopped me.

"Link?" Tetra had yet anther new expression on her face. She almost looked…shy? No way. Of all the crazy things that had happened today, _that_ I couldn't believe. She looked up at me, not-shyness in her eyes. "Have you…ever kissed a girl?"

"Of course!" I responded automatically.

"A girl who's _not_ your sister or your grandmother."

"Er…"

"That's what I thought." She smirked a little, that old cockiness coming back, and started walking toward me. "It's not right, for someone to die before they've even had their first kiss… In fact, I forbid it."

"For- forbid it?" Dammit, why was I stuttering?

"Uh-huh." She looked at me with half-lidded eyes and let a slow smile spread across her face. "Link, as your captain I _forbid you_ from dying before you receive your first kiss. And as your princess…" She reached out with one gloved hand, and placed a finger on my lips. "I call dibs."

I blinked. "Dibs?"

"That's right. Dibs. So don't go kissing any other girls."

"Never," I said before I could stop myself.

"All right then." She withdrew her hand and stepped back. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go save the world!"

I found myself grinning like an idiot, and I didn't care. "Aye-aye Cap'n!"

I saluted again, then swung my arm down and turned it into a bow. Tetra's laughter followed me as I ran out of the room and up the stairs.

As soon as I was out of the way, the statue of the Hero of Time slid back over the hole, sealing Tetra inside. I looked down at the seam between statue and floor for a second, then raised my head and looked up at the statue.

"I think I understand you a little better now," I said to the legendary hero. "You had a princess too, didn't you?"

And with that, I went to have a _talk_ with my boat.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

AN:

Excuse me for a moment while I laugh maniacally.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Heheh. Ha... Whoo... Okay.

I've had this scene in my head almost since I first got the idea to write this. Tetra calling dibs on Link's first kiss. Still funny!

I think I've found a better way to make sure I update on time. It means the updates on my other story will be more sporadic, but I think it's worth it. I've only got one or two more chapters I can write in that one before I need to take a break and figure out the plot. It's a bad idea to start writing beofre you know what you want to write. I learned that lesson the hard way.

Happy reading!


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